Thirteen people have died and seven others taken ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor at Malad here on Thursday.
The survivors are currently being treated at different hospitals, with some in a critical condition.
All the victims had purchased the beverage from the same shanty, where three men were running an illegal liquor shop, said the police. One of them, Raju Langda, has been detained by the police.
It is, however, not clear whether the consumed liquid was produced by adulterating government manufactured country liquor or was home brewed. During initial interrogation, Langda said he had only sold sealed bottles of government made liquor.
However, police suspect Langda’s claim as the victims said the liquor at the shanty was cheaper than the State controlled rate.
“This is a reason for us to doubt Langda’s claims and we are also trying to find out how long they have been running the business,” said Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Crime) Atul Kulkarni.
According to the police, after consuming the liquor, the victims complained of discomfort and pain late on Wednesday night and were admitted to four different hospitals — Prime, Shatabdi, Siddharth and a municipal hospital. The first death was reported at 9 a.m. on Thursday, said Mr. Kulkarni.
Both the police and the State’s excise department officials said that samples were being collected from the homes and the shop and more clarity would emerge only after these were tested and the post-mortem report of the deceased were obtained.
Though they have refrained from terming it a case of spurious liquor, excise department officials claimed that this was the first time in the past 11 years that deaths were reported in the city due to consumption of adulterated or spurious liquor.
