Hooch toll rises to 12; Mamata says liquor came from outside

The toll in the hooch tragedy in West Bengal's Nadia district rose to 12 with the death of five more people, an official said Thursday.

The condition of 25 other people, who were undergoing treatment at a hospital, was quite serious, District Magistrate Sumit Gupta said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the spurious liquor was being supplied from neighbouring states and asked the police to take strict action in this regard. She also asked the excise department to be proactive and conduct regular raids throughout the year and not just after an incident is reported.

Eleven excise department officials have been suspended following the liquor tragedy at Shantipur area of Nadia.

 

"The death toll is 12 now, including a woman. The condition of the 25 people, who are undergoing treatment at the Shantipur State General Hospital, is quite serious. Depending on the nature of their treatment, we will think of shifting them to hospitals in Kolkata," Gupta told PTI.

The state CID, which has taken over the case, has so far arrested four people in connection with their involvement in selling spurious liquor in Shantipur area, a senior officer of the agency said.

Asked whether the liquor was brought from outside the state, the officer said, "So far, the arrested people have not told us anything of such sort. We are conducting tests of the liquor and trying to find out whether they were mixed with any chemical from outside."

The CID investigations would be able to throw light on whether the spurious liquor is being smuggled into rural Bengal from Bihar and Jharkhand, Finance Minister Amit Mitra said Wednesday.

The state government announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

On Wednesday, people of Nrishinghapur village in Nadia district consumed spurious liquor, officials said. A majority of the dead and the sick were brick-field labourers, the locals said, alleging that the spurious liquor was brought from nearby Kalna in Burdwan district.

"The hooch is coming from outside (the state). We have borders with many states. We have to deal with this strongly," Banerjee said during an administrative meeting at Sripur in West Burdwan district.

Asking the excise department to conduct raids regularly, Banerjee said, "You cannot conduct raids only after an incident is reported.... You have to be proactive."

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh held the Trinamool Congress government responsible for the incident and said the party would initiate a big movement against the death of common people.

"Such incidents are repeatedly happening in West Bengal. The state government is shrugging off its responsibility by a compensation of Rs 2 lakh. There is no administration here," he said.

The BJP leader also questioned why there were no rallies or protests when hooch tragedies occur.

He said, "If one Bengali died in Assam, the TMC, the CPI(M) hold rallies here. Why are they are silent now?"

He apparently referred to TMC leaders' visit to Assam after suspected ULFA(I) militants shot dead five Bengali speaking people in Tinsukia on the night of November 1.