Toll due to spurious liquor in Punjab rises to 21, two police officers suspended

The toll from the consumption of allegedly spurious liquor in Punjab’s Amritsar has risen to 21, up from 14, with most of the dead said to be daily wage earners, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday quoting police officials. Ten others were also taken to the hospital.

Majitha Deputy Superintendent of Police Amolak Singh and Station House Officer Avtar Singh have been suspended for “negligence [that] resulted in the fatal incident”. Departmental inquiries have also been launched against them, Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav said.

The incident took place on Monday night. The deaths were confirmed by Amritsar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh.

The deaths took place in seven villages in Majitha: Bhangali, Patalpuri, Marari Kalan, Therewal, Karnala, Bhangwan and Talwandi Ghuman.

The total number of arrests in the case has also increased to 10, including the main suspect Sahib Singh and distributor Prabhjeet Singh, Maninder Singh said.

The others who were arrested included another distributor, Kulbir Singh, and local sellers Ninder Kaur, Sahib Singh, Gurjant Singh, Arun aka Kala and Sikander Singh aka Pappu.

The senior superintendent of police added Prabhjeet Singh received 50 litres of methanol from Sahib Singh, who sourced it online from a Ludhiana-based company. He then diluted it and sold it to locals in two-litre packets.

Sahib Singh had purchased the methanol from...

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