Two persons died reportedly after consuming sanitiser while five other suspicious deaths were reported in the city in the last two days.
According to police, during the past seven days about 10 suspicious death cases have been reported from Kothapeta, Wynchipeta, Panja Centre, Chittinagar, Nehru Bomma Centre, Kothagullu Centre, Kaleswara Rao Market and Vaagu Centre in One Town.
B. Madhu (34) and R. Satyanarayana (48) died on Monday. A resident of Gollapalem Gattu area, Madhu was running a fast food centre near the railway station and was reportedly consuming sanitiser for sometime. Satyanarayana, a rickshaw-puller, too had been drinking sanitiser for the last few days and died while undergoing treatment in the government hospital.
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The Two Town police registered cases and recorded statements from the family members of the two deceased.
Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu said the police are awaiting the post-mortem report. Samples have also been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to know the exact cause of death.
West Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K. Hanumantha Rao said that two mysterious death cases have been registered in the One Town police limits besides three similar cases in the Two Town police limits on Tuesday.
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“Following complaints, we registered cases under Section 174 CrPc (suspicious death). The bodies were sent for autopsy,” he said.
Awareness programme
Meanwhile, local people allege that many petty vendors, labourers and rickshaw-pullers have fallen sick in the last few days due to consumption of sanitiser.
“In the absence of employment due to the COVID-19 impact, many labourers who cannot afford to buy liquor have been consuming sanitisers for the past few months. This is impacting their health and leading to hospitalisations,” said a local resident.
Police are planning to conduct awareness meetings in One Town and Two Town station areas to explain the ill-effects of consuming sanitiser, Mr. Hanumantha Rao said.