Death toll in Gujarat hooch tragedy rises to 33

The death toll due to consumption of spurious liquor in villages of Botad and neighbouring Ahmedabad climbed to 33 on Tuesday, making it the second biggest hooch tragedy in Gujarat—which practises total liquor prohibition—since 2009. Police and health officials said the number was likely to increase as the condition of several victims is critical.

Addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar, Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia said forensic investigation revealed that the liquor was made with methyl alcohol. Bhatia said the chemical, which is usually used for industrial purposes, was bought illegally to make the counterfeit liquor. According to him, 400 litres of methyl alcohol was recovered.

So far, three FIRs had been registered and most of the 14 suspects named in the FIR were already apprehended.

Apart from the deceased, 45 others were under treatment in hospitals of Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, cremation of the deceased victims, whose bodies were released after autopsy, were performed in their villages under police protection.

Local sources said that most of the victims were daily wagers or farm labourers who consumed cheap country-made liquor.

MLA Jignesh Mevani, who visited the affected families, said in a tweet: “I visited the families of hooch tragedy in Botad, most of them are from Dalits, Thokor and Devi Pujak communities. Despite repeated requests by the sarpanch the administration didn’t heed. If there is any shame left, Harsh Sanghvi should resign.”

Sanghvi is the minister of state for home.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who is on a Gujarat visit ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, visited some of the victims and their families in a Bhavnagar hospital. He alleged that despite prohibition, large quantities of illicit liquor were being sold in the state due to political protection.

Gujarat government, meanwhile, announced setting up of a three-member committee to “inquire into the reasons of this incident”. The committee will have to submit a detailed report to the government within three days.

The committee is headed by Inspector General of Police Subhash Trivedi, with IAS officer M A Gandhi and HP Sanghvi, who is the director of forensic science laboratory in Gandhinagar, as its members.

Despite stringent anti-liquor laws, the state hasn’t been able to control hooch tragedies: In 2009, 156 people died due to spurious liquor in Ahmedabad, and 21 persons were killed in Surat in 2016.

Since 1960, when it was carved out of Maharashtra, Gujarat government has changed liquor laws for over half-a-dozen times with each making the laws more stringent. Yet, liquor trade has been thriving in the state.