 "Haryana's spurious liquor case: 5 more people dead, death toll climbs to 12")
With the death of five more people, the toll in a suspected case of poisoning due to the consumption of spurious liquor has climbed to 12 in Haryana, officials said on Friday.
While 10 people have died in Yamunanagar district, two deaths were reported from neighbouring Ambala, they added.
Opposition Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have slammed the Manohar Lal Khattar government over the deaths and said it has failed to learn lessons from such incidents in the past.
Three more deaths were reported from Yamunanagar on Friday, the officials said.
The deaths have so far taken place in Mandebari, Panjeto Ka Majra, Phoosgarh and Saran villages of Yamunanagar.
Police said the two men who died in Ambala on Thursday were migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh. They had consumed the suspected spurious liquor, which was manufactured illegally in Ambala district.
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The two men were living in a rented house in a village in Ambala and working at a factory here.
When their condition became grave, they were admitted to the Mullana Medical College at Mullana where they succumbed on Friday, a police official from Ambala said.
Police in Ambala said around 200 boxes of spurious liquor were prepared in an abandoned old factory and supplied to some of the arrested accused in Yamunanagar.
They added that they have seized 14 empty drums and the material used for making the illicit liquor from the spot.
Police said they are trying to find out when the accused started making the liquor and who were involved in its manufacture.
The Yamunanagar Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter and arrested seven people.
Two others have been apprehended for allegedly manufacturing the liquor illegally in Ambala, Mullana Station House Officer (SHO) Surender had said on Thursday.
"They supplied the liquor in Yamunanagar," he had added.
Among those arrested, two are illegal vendors from Yamunanagar, police said.