Two die after consuming liquor laced with poisonous substance in Gujarat; Rahul Gandhi taunts BJP with 'Gujarat model' jibe

Two persons died after consuming liquor mixed with a poisonous liquid in Gujarat's Junagadh district, police said on Tuesday but ruled out hooch as the cause. Two autorickshaw drivers Rafiq Dhodhari (45) and Bharat Pidhadiya (40) died shortly after consuming a "suspicious liquid" between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Monday in the city's Gandhi Chowk area, Additional DGP Rajkumar Pandian said.

The incident, which occurred during the campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly polls, prompted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to attack the BJP government with a jibe that the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel was "intoxicated". "In 'Dry State' Gujarat, people died again yesterday due to spurious liquor! On the one hand, there is a liquor ban for show off, on the other hand, people are dying due to poisonous liquor and drugs — instead of employment, the government is giving poison.

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"This is BJP's 'Gujarat Model'! The land of Gandhi-Sardar has been intoxicated," Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Speaking about the incident, Pandian said the duo was rushed to the Junagadh civil hospital, but were declared brought dead. Their postmortem revealed that a poisonous substance had congested the viscera of the deceased, the ADGP told reporters.

"We immediately sent the substance for forensic examination. It was found to contain ethanol and cyanide. It did not have methanol, which would have been indicative of a hooch death," he said. The duo had mixed a poisonous liquid in liquor before consuming it, he said. A probe is underway to find out who had supplied the poisonous liquid to the victims, the official said.

"We are investigating whether someone made them drink the liquid. We will examine CCTV footages to track down the movement of the victims in the last three days and the call details from their mobile phones," he said.