At least four people have died and 19 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district after allegedly consuming spurious liquor at Kharadi village in Ghogha taluka on Tuesday night, police said.
Police officers said they have so far detained ten suspected bootleggers for questioning. The incident came to light after people started falling ill following the liquor consumption.
Gujarat is a dry state, where the manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor are prohibited under the state’s prohibition law.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that a bootlegger from Vartej in Bhavnagar district and a man from Madhya Pradesh allegedly joined hands to make quick money by selling spurious liquor. They allegedly filled bottles bearing the Royal Stag label with inferior-quality liquor, mixed it with water and passed it off as genuine liquor,” an officer said.
The inferior-quality liquor bottles were allegedly supplied from Madhya Pradesh, and police are investigating their source and the network through which they reached Bhavnagar, the officer added.
Police are investigating how many such bottles were sold, where they were distributed and the role of those involved in their manufacture and sale. “Samples have been sent for forensic examination to determine the substances present in the liquor and establish the cause of the deaths and illnesses,” the officer said.
