Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 8 (ANI): The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district has risen to 15, while more than 100 people are undergoing treatment at various hospitals.
Amid the tragedy, a family in Gugra Khurd village, located around 50 kilometres from the district headquarters, lost three members — two brothers and their cousin.
The deceased have been identified as Ujiyar Singh Lodhi (56), Bhagwan Singh Lodhi (27) and their cousin Chaman Singh (45).
Villagers claimed that nearly six people from the surrounding villages have died in the incident, while around 35-40 others are undergoing treatment at hospitals.
Speaking to ANI, the victims’ family members demanded a complete ban on liquor in the region and strict action against those responsible for the tragedy.
Gandharv Singh Lodhi, brother of the deceased Ujiyar Singh and Bhagwan Singh, said, “His brothers worked in Indore and had returned to their village for Raksha Bandhan. They consumed liquor during their stay, following which their health deteriorated and they later died”.
Gandharv demanded adequate compensation for the affected families and strict action against those responsible.
Suman Lodhi, wife of the deceased Bhagwan Singh and who is pregnant, said, “Her life had been shattered following her husband’s death. She demanded a complete ban on liquor and strict action against those responsible for the incident”.
Earlier, District Collector Pratibha Pal said the inquiry will examine the reasons behind the incident, the sequence of events, the people responsible and measures needed to prevent such incidents in the future.
Speaking to the reporters here, Pal on Monday said, “An order for a magisterial inquiry has been issued regarding the incident. What were the reasons for this incident, what sequence of events led to it happening, who are the people responsible behind it, what steps should be taken to ensure this incident does not recur in the future; this inquiry has been constituted on all these matters. 13 people have died in this, and their postmortems have been conducted.”
She said postmortems of all 13 deceased have been conducted, and four to five people are currently under critical care monitoring.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Digvijaya Singh alleged that the Excise Department, Police Department and BJP leaders were responsible for the incident.
He demanded arrests in connection with the deaths, saying that the person from whose shop the liquor originated, along with officials who allegedly allowed it to happen, should face homicide charges.
“The Excise Department, the Police Department, and BJP leaders–all three are culpable. Bombay Whisky and Gold Whisky arrived. How did they get here? Which distillery did they come from? What was your department doing? Who is the contractor? Arrests for the crime of homicide should be made against the person from whose shop this originated, as well as the officials who allowed this to happen,” Singh said in the press conference. (ANI)
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