Punjab hooch tragedy: death toll rises to 20; EC seeks urgent report
Poll panel asks the State government to prepare a preliminary statement on the incident; police have arrested eight accused so far; Oppn. slams CM for the deaths
As the death toll climbed to 20 after the alleged consumption of spurious liquor in Punjab’s Sangrur — the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann — the Election Commission of India (EC) on Saturday sought an immediate report from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government into the tragedy, amid severe criticism from Opposition parties in the State.
The poll panel has sought a report from the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) on the tragedy. An official statement said that according to the EC’s information, around 20 people had died and 20 people are under treatment in various hospitals in Sangrur and Patiala district.
In a letter, the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer asked the Chief Secretary of Punjab and the DGP to send an immediate preliminary report and a detailed report regarding the entire event to apprise the poll panel.
The Punjab Police has formed a fourmember Special Investigation Team to probe the matter. Additional Director General of Police (Law &Order) Gurinder Singh Dhillon is heading the team.
“Three FIRs have been lodged so far in connection with the incident. We have arrested eight accused persons and recovered huge amounts of spurious liquor and other equipment used for manufacturing and labelling the liquor from their possession,” said Mr. Dhillon, adding that an initial probe had revealed that the methanol had been procured from a factory in Noida.
Opposition heat
Upping the ante against AAP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler demanded the registration of a criminal case against Excise Minister Harpal Cheema in the matter.
“Mr. Bhagwant Mann said on the record during the 2020 Tarn Taran hooch tragedy that the thenExcise Minister should resign immediately, and that a murder case should be registered against the perpetrators,” he said.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said the enormity of the hooch tragedy in Sangrur was the result of a “liquor scam” in the State that was flourishing under the patronage of the AAP government.
The Leader of the Opposition, Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, also hit out at Mr. Mann, accusing him of not taking the matter seriously.