The death toll in the Etah hooch tragedy climbed to 23 on Sunday even as the Akhilesh Yadav government came under criticism from Opposition parties.
Till Saturday night, 14 deaths were reported dead in the incident. On Sunday, seven more deaths were reported from Etah. In a related incident, two persons died in Farukhabad district after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, a police spokesperson said.
The two deceased, identified as Sobran and Suresh, residents of Gram Chilora of Kayamganj area of Farukkhabad, had consumed spurious liquor at Luhari Darwaza area of Aliganj in Etah.
Some have also lost their eyesight. District Magistrate Ajay Yadav said that an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 2 lakh each would be given to the families of the deceased and that the State would bear the full cost of treatment of those who lost their eyesight.
The police late on Saturday night nabbed main accused Shripal Lodh from the Nayagaon area of the district.
BJP constitutes panel
The BJP has picked the hooch tragedy in Etah to target the Samajwadi Party government and formed a seven-member team of senior officer-bearers who will visit the spot on Monday to probe the circumstances that led to the tragedy.
The BJP has held Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav responsible for the tragedy, citing that the Excise Department was under him.
The BJP team formed by State party president Keshav Prasad Maurya includes Etah MP Rajveer Singh, State general secretary and son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Pankaj Singh and Agra MP and former minister Ram Shankar Katheria, party spokesperson Manoj Mishra said.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also reacted to the tragedy and expressed his “deepest condolence” to the families of the victims. “Those responsible must be brought to book,” he tweeted.
A case was registered under Section 60 of the Excise Act and 304 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with culpable homicide. The incident triggered the suspension of several police and administrative officials, including, SDM Etah Sanjeev Kumar, station officer Aliganj Mukesh Kumar, area-in-charge Yogendra Kumar, Circle Officer Aliganj Asharam Ahirwar and the District Excise officer V.K.Sharma, for dereliction of duty.
Taking a serious view of the incident, UP DGP Javeed Ahmed has warned officials to ensure that such incidents were not repeated and advised them to tour their areas to check production and sale of spurious liquor. “While sale of illicit liquor causes revenue loss to the State, it also leads to precious loss of life. With this in mind if there is sale of illegal liquor, strict action will be taken against the concerned station officer and the gazetted officer,” Mr. Ahmed said.
