Spurious liquor claims 21 lives in Amritsar, 10 critical
As many as 21 men lost their lives after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in seven villages of the Majitha area here late last evening.
The deceased belonged to economically weaker sections and were mainly farm labourers or landless farmers who could not afford to buy liquor from authorised vends.
They used to buy 150 ml pouches from local illicit liquor sellers for Rs 30 and 250 ml for Rs 50.
The victims from Threwal and Marari villages reportedly bought liquor from Sahib Singh, alias Raee, and Gurjant Singh. Most of them experienced uneasiness after consuming it and tried homemade remedies and painkillers for relief.
The deceased have been identified as Major Singh (45), Paramjit Singh (60), Tasveer Singh (37), Sukhwinder Singh (45) and Sarabjeet Singh (38), all from Marari Kalan; Iqbal Singh (45), Ramandeep Singh (38), Robanjit Singh (38), Balbir Singh (55), Raja (32) and Joginder Singh (70) — all residents of Bhangali Kalan; Karnail Singh (34), Ajit Singh (80) and Joginder Singh (39) — all residents of Threwal; Romy (38) and Ganju Ram (36) from Patalpuri; Kaka (26) and Gagan (35) from Karnala; Mukhtar Singh (62) and Satpal Singh (55) from Bhangwan village and Amarpal Singh (35) from Talwandi Khumman.
As many as 31 persons fell victim to the spurious liquor. Of them, 21 died, while the condition of 10 is critical and they remain under medical observation at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.
Those admitted to the hospital are Tarsem Singh, Kala, Gulzar Singh, Kewal Singh, Raman Sharma, Nathu Ram, Jaspal Singh, Sarwan Singh, Chanan Singh and Muthak Raj.
Karnail Singh (34) of Threwal village used to work as a brick loader and tractor driver at a brick kiln, earning Rs 350 per day. He supported a family, including a physically challenged father, his wife, two daughters and a son. The family lived in a small room with a broken roof and no gate.
Sukha, his friend, said, “He worked hard and needed something to relax after a long day’s labour. He could only afford liquor costing Rs 30. He had been consuming it for the past few years, like many others in the village. Something went wrong this time, and the family lost its sole breadwinner.”
Sukhwinder Singh Nikku (45), a bus driver, returned home and slept peacefully. On Monday morning, he complained of pain and uneasiness and took tablets from a local medical store. He died later that night at home.
He is survived by two sons — one a heroin addict and the other a daily wage worker who was duped by a travel agent on the pretext of sending him to Dubai on a work visa.
Mahinder Singh, father of deceased Sarabjeet Singh of Marari Kalan, walks with the help of a knee support and is now worried about his five unmarried granddaughters. “Who will feed them? How will I arrange their marriages? This death has ruined our entire family,” said Mahinder Singh.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann visited Marari Kalan village and met kin of the victims. He said the spurious liquor business could not have be carried out without the patronage of the police, bureaucracy or politicians, adding that this angle was being probed.
He announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for next of kin of each deceased and said the state government would bear the entire expenses of education of the children of the victims.
He said every possible help in terms of jobs and other things would also be extended to these families.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa also met victims and sought accountability from the CM.
“I agree that the tragedy couldn’t have occurred without political, bureaucratic or police support. If there’s complicity, the accountability starts with the CM,” he said.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded the resignation of Excise Minister Harpal Singh Cheema for the tragedy.
Punjab