Pune hooch deaths | Rohit Pawar slams Maha Yuti govt over tragedy, NCP(SP) workers ransack liquor shop

Mumbai: Amid the liquor tragedy in Pune, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar led a group of party workers in ransacking the spurious liquor joint even as the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the Devendra Fadnavis-headed Maha Yuti government.

Pawar, who is an MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar district, visited the homes of the victims and Sassoon General Hospital, where some of the serious patients are undergoing treatment.

Majority of the victims are from Pune's Hadapsar and Fugewadi areas.

MVA leaders claimed that 18 people have died in the last two days.

“This is an extremely serious matter, with many still battling for their lives. Despite repeated outcries against the rampant illegal trades in the state, the government has failed to rein them in, and as a result, 18 lives have been lost to illicit liquor—the full responsibility for this lies squarely with the state government,” said Pawar hitting out at the BJP-led government and Fadnavis, who heads the state Home ministry.

“This government may hold power only technically due to its brute majority, but morally, it lost the people's trust long ago. If it has even the slightest sense of its responsibility, it should publicly apologize to the people of Maharashtra,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that this is culpable homicide.

“This is a very serious issue and 18 families have been left destitute. This is a case of culpable homicide. The government's people keep the police engaged in love jihad, Hindu-Muslim disputes and Eid sacrifices, and then such communal massacre incidents happen,” said Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP.

“Who is responsible for this? The rule of law has ended at every level in the state. The sellers of poisonous liquor and those who died drinking it are all Hindus. So, give 25 lakh rupees in compensation to the families of those who died, and throw the poisonous liquor sellers into your famous washing machine. Clean them up and boost the party's growth,” he added.

Maharashtra Congress President Harshavardhan Sapkal demanded the immediate suspension of the zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police and the in-charge of the police station. “Law and order in Maharashtra has deteriorated to the point of utter failure. Fadnavis has completely failed as Home Minister. Fadnavis should accept moral responsibility and resign from the post of Home Minister,” said Sapkal, who is a former MLA.

NCP (SP) working President and Baramati MP Supriya Sule said: “Under the very nose of the Pune police in the city, such a large illegal trade of poisonous liquor was thriving. Had timely action been taken in this regard, these lives could have been saved. Families would not have been devastated. Not just liquor, but other intoxicating substances like drugs have repeatedly been exposed as being brazenly available in Pune and its surroundings. The young generation has fallen into the clutches of addiction—is progressive Maharashtra, with its cultured ethos, now heading toward becoming a “Udta Maharashtra" under the influence?”.