DAY 2: HOOCH DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 69

The death toll in the spurious liquor tragedy that hit three districts in UP and Uttarakhand rose to 69 on Saturday, with more people dying of the hooch they drank in Haridwar, Saharanpur and Kushinagar, officials said.

However, agency reports have put the death toll much higher.

Twenty-four of the victims died in Balupur and its neighbouring villages in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district, an official said. Nine people were reported dead in Kushinagar and 36 in Saharanpur, according to official reports.

Villagers of Umahi claimed that sale of hooch was quite common in the region and bootleggers had a wide network.

Kapil Dabur, president of Nagal Vyapar Mandal, claimed that bootlegging was like a cottage industry in the region.

UMAHI( SAHARANPUR):