Speaking to The Hindu, Sagar Collector Pratibha Pal said, “The official death toll is at 16 currently based on cause of death revealed in the post-mortem reports. Viscera samples of some people, whose post-mortem reports did not link their deaths to counterfeit liquor or did not show an exact cause of death, have been sent for forensic analysis.” Ms. Pal stated that authorities will update the official count if forensics confirm the results. She said three of them are in critical conditions and more than 60 have been discharged.
Meanwhile, five illegal properties of three accused, Chandrabhan Rajpoot alias Chandu Raja, Manish Lodhi and Ashish Sahu, were demolished by the authorities on Thursday.
The action comes a day after Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited Sagar and said that the government has given a “free hand” to the local police and administration to take action against those involved in the illicit liquor trade.
Ms. Pal said that the properties were illegal and had been built on encroached lands.
The Collector said that the test reports of the counterfeit liquor seized from the accused are still awaited.
“But it is suspected that they had mixed high percentage of methanol in the liquor,” she said.
Ms. Pal also said that the health department teams have so far screened people from 125 villages in Banda and Shahgarh sub-divisions to check for any symptoms related to the spurious liquor consumption.
Protest in villages
Meanwhile, women in various villages in the region also held demonstrations while demanding a complete ban on alcohol in the region.“You could get local-made and branded liquor at kirana shops... The police and administration are well aware of this but barely take an action,” said Seema Rajak, mother of Durgesh Rajak, who is admitted at a government-run hospital after having lost his vision.
