Chandigarh/Amritsar: The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Punjab’s Amritsar rose to 27, with four more people succumbing in the Majitha area in the past 24 hours, officials said on Thursday. Of the four, three hailed from Bhangwan village and one was from Galowali Kullian village, they said. Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday distributed cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those who died after consuming spurious liquor in villages of the Majitha area. Dhaliwal said strictest action will be taken against all those responsible for this tragedy.
Police have so far arrested 16 people in connection with the incident, he said.
The minister said the government is providing free medical treatment to those hospitalised and will grant them financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each.
“No amount of money can compensate for the loss of a family’s breadwinner, but it is the government’s responsibility to do whatever possible to support the surviving members,” he said.
Most of the victims of the tragedy were daily wagers.
The deaths have been reported in Bhangali, Patalpuri, Marari Kalan, Talwandi Khumman, Karnala, Bhangwan and Therewal villages. A police probe revealed that methanol -- a chemical used in industrial products -- was procured in bulk online to prepare the toxic brew.
Methanol is a light, colourless organic chemical compound which is poisonous when ingested and is illegally added to alcoholic beverages as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, which is the normal consumable alcohol.
The victims of the tragedy ranged in age from 26 to 80 years, many of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.
Two separate cases have been registered at Majitha and Kathunangal police stations in Amritsar Rural under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Excise Act and the SC/ST Act.