Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 38

Chennai: At least 25 more people died on Thursday, taking the death toll from the incident of consuming spurious liquor in Kallakurichi district to 38.

The tragedy, which sent shock waves across the state, has raised pertinent questions on how brewing and sale of illicit liquor, that too in the district headquarters, went unchecked by the administration, especially as it comes just a year after a twin hooch tragedy in neighbouring Villupuram district, which took 22 lives.

“The death toll is 38. 23 have been reported from the government hospital in Kallakurichi, three in Puducherry, Salem (8), and Villupuram (4),” PWD minister E V Velu told reporters. 

The death toll is likely to go up with several people admitted to various hospitals in and around Kallakurichi, 240 km from Chennai, are said to be critical, while the number of people admitted to hospitals after allegedly consuming spurious liquor has crossed 100. Some women who didn’t know that they were consuming liquor also fell victim to the tragedy.

While four people, including the vendor Kannukutty who supplied illicit liquor to villagers in packets, have been arrested, the District Administration’s initial denial on Wednesday morning that spurious liquor wasn’t the reason for the death of four persons from the locality seems to have escalated the issue. 

Locals and eyewitnesses said people who went for the funeral of one Suresh, who died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, were given the same drink mixed with ethanol. “If the district administration had been a little careful, the lives of many people would have been saved. How did the collector conclude that there was no connection between the deaths and sale of spurious liquor?” Arumugam, a local, asked. 

The government, which was caught napping as spurious liquor was sold in packets in the heart of the Kallakurichi town with scores of people continuing to get admitted to hospitals with several symptoms, also faced uncomfortable questions from the AIADMK, which said its MLA had been raising the issue with now-suspended SP Samay Singh Meena, who is believed to have turned a blind eye.

Continuing with the damage-control exercise after suspending the SP and shunting out collector Sravan Kumar Jatavath, Chief Minister M K Stalin, while promising strict action against the accused, announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the victim. 

Principal Opposition AIADMK moved the Madras High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the issue, while the state unit of BJP also made a similar demand to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Stalin also announced the constitution of a one-man commission headed by retired justice B Gokuldoss to submit a detailed report on the incident, while Home Secretary P Amudha and Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal will submit an interim report in two days. 

Mixing methanol with liquor is understood to have been the cause of the deaths and the police have formed 10 special teams to nab the accused who mixed methanol in the illicit liquor. Blood samples of the deceased have been sent to forensic labs in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry and other institutes for analyses. 

Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, BJP chief K Annamalai, and budding politician actor Vijay -- all squarely laid the blame for the incident on the DMK government -- visited the families of the victims of the tragedy. 

“My father was missing for some time after he finished tending to cows in the morning. Within half-an-hour, we were told that he collapsed and that is when we realised that he has consumed spurious liquor. This is a menace and it should be eradicated,” the daughter of a 45-year-old victim said with tears rolling down her cheeks.