Amritsar Hooch Tragedy: 15 Dead, Several Critical as Death Toll Likely to Rise

Amritsar Hooch Tragedy: According to the police, fifteen individuals have died, and almost 10 are in critical condition after consuming contaminated liquor in villages in the Majitha block of Punjab’s Amritsar.

Most of the individuals affected lived in the Bhangali Kalan, Thariewal, Sangha, and Marari Kalan localities of the block containing these villages. The individuals in critical condition have been transported to Amritsar civil hospital.

Sahib Sawhney, the Amritsar DC, visited the hospital to assess the situation and confirmed the casualty figure of fifteen. Authorities say the number of fatalities is likely to increase.

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“We have learnt that all bought the liquor from a single source on Sunday evening. Some of them died on Monday morning, and locals cremated them without informing the police. Some people hid the fact and said the victims died of heart attack. We received information about the deaths late on Monday,” Majitha SHO Aabtaab Singh said.

A representative from the Punjab government stated that two FIRs have been registered and that the main suppliers — Prabhjit Singh & Sahib Singh — were arrested from Rajasansi. Four other accused individuals, who purchased liquor from the suppliers and distributed to various villages have also been apprehended.

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The investigating teams have commenced investigating other states to apprehend the companies that supplied the liquor, the representative remarked.

Five years ago, the state had a major hooch tragedy in the Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur districts of the state.

The state observed one of the largest hooch carnages five years ago in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts. About 130 people died and nearly a dozen lost eyesight after reportedly consuming spurious liquor in three districts of the Majha region — Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Amritsar — in the months of July and August 2020. Of these, about 80 deaths were recorded in Tarn Taran district alone.

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