Culpable homicide FIR lodged against unknown persons

FOUR MEN, AGED 28 TO 42, FROM SONEPAT AND PANIPAT, HAD DIED ON TUESDAY AFTER ALLEGEDLY CONSUMING SPURIOUS LIQUOR

ROHTAK : A day after four people, including three from Sonepat’s Shamdi village, died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, the Gohana Sadar police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against unknown persons.

The case has been registered under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 72-A of the Punjab Excise (Haryana Amendment) Act.

The deceased include Ajay Kumar, 28, Sunil, 30, and Surender, 42, of Shamdi, Sonepat, and Anil, 30, of Bursham, Panipat. Three of them, except Surender, worked as sweepers at a sugar mill in Panipat.

In his statement to police, Anil, alias Banti, of Shamdi village, who is among four others who fell sick after consuming the liquor, told the police that he and Surender were sitting at a house in the village on November 20.

“Ajay and Sunil arrived there and offered us drinks, which they said they had brought from Panipat and had no smell. The next day, one of my friends told me that Ajay, Sunil and Surender had fallen ill. I also felt sick and got admitted at Bhagat Phool Singh Medical College for Women in Khanpur Kalan. Though doctors discharged me after treatment, my health again worsened, so I got admitted at a private hospital in Rohtak,” he said.

“Of the four men who also fell sick, the condition of three is now normal, but Sanjay’s health deteriorated after he smoked. He has been shifted to the ICU at Bhagat Phool Singh Medical College for Women,” said Sonepat police spokesman Ravindra Kumar.

Kumar added that they had registered a case against unknown persons and were investigating from where the liquor was sourced.

According to police, Ajay and Sunil had consumed liquor with Anil (from Bursham) and his brother in Panipat on Sunday.

“After returning to Shamdi village, Ajay and Sunil consumed the same liquor with five other people, including Surender. Anil was the first to die and Ajay attended his cremation in Panipat. On returning, he and others from Shamdi too complained of loose motions and vomiting. After their health deteriorated, all of them were rushed to Bhagat Phool Singh Medical College for Women, where three of them died on Tuesday,” Kumar said.