Bootleg alcohol kills 98 in Punjab

– The death toll from a toxic bootleg alcohol scandal in the north Indian state of Punjab rose to 98 on Sunday, officials and reports said.

Police have arrested 25 people so far over the worsening tragedy, which started coming to light late last week, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

Hundreds of people die every year in India from illegal alcohol made in backstreet distilleries which sells for as little as 10 rupees (R2.24) a litre.

The death toll from the illicit booze had risen to 75 in Punjab’s

Tarn Taran district after further investigation, the local administration’s deputy commissioner Kulwant Singh said.

“Several families refused to divulge details of deaths and a few even cremated them. We have come to this number after information gathering,” Singh said.

A further 11 people had died in Gurdaspur district, a local official said. PTI reported on Saturday that toxic moonshine had also killed 12 in Amritsar.

Relatives of the victims mourned on Sunday as the state opposition party called on the

Punjab government to “curb liquor mafia in the state” .

Punjab state chief minister Amarinder Singh said on Friday he had ordered a special inquiry into the deaths and “anyone found guilty will not be spared”.

Authorities in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh said on Friday nine people had died after drinking alcohol-based sanitiser.

Of the estimated five billion litres of alcohol drunk every year in India, 40% is illegally produced, according to the International Spirits and Wine Association of India. – AFP