Senior Superintendent of Police of Amritsar (Rural) Maninder Singh said that the police received information around 9:30 pm last night that people had started experiencing symptoms of poisoning after consuming spurious liquor and several succumbed.Singh said that the police are investigating which firms have supplied the liquor to the accused. “The suppliers have ordered the chemical online and then the local suppliers manufacture this illicit liquor and put into packets and sold to these daily wagers. Our teams have left for other states to apprehend these suppliers. Two cases have been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Excise Act,” he added.Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Sakshi Sawhney visited the hospital to take stock of the situation. “An unfortunate tragedy has happened in Majitha area. We got to know yesterday night that in five villages people have died after taking illicit liquor and many of them are critical. The medical teams were rushed to the spot and thesel teams are still going door-to-door and checking whether people have some symptoms or not, we are taking them to the hospital so that we can save them. The government is extending all the help possible,” Sawhney said.Station House Officer of Majitha Police Station Aabtaab Singh said, “in the preliminary investigation it has come to light that the deceased bought liquor from a single source on Sunday evening. A few of them died yesterday morning and locals cremated them without informing the police. We received information about the deaths due to liquor in the late evening and initiated an investigation.”A similar hooch tragedy took place five years ago in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts in which about 130 people died and around a dozen had lost their vision after allegedly consuming spurious liquor.This tragic event has once again raised concerns over the unchecked circulation of spurious liquor in rural parts of the state.
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