Four persons, including a 15-year-old boy, died of suspected poisoning and four others were admitted to Government Hospital after they consumed liquor near the Sirukulam irrigation tank here on Sunday.
A 13-year-old boy is among those admitted to the Government Rajaji hospital in Madurai.
However, Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police, M. Rajarajan said that there was no trace of poison in the liquor bottles found at the spot. Quoting initial reports of post-mortem, he said the stomach revealed traces of a poisonous substance.
“It looks like that victims had eaten something prior to drinking in the afternoon. We suspect that the food was laced with poison. The motive is yet to be ascertained,” the Superintendent said.
The police identified the deceased as A. Gautham (15), M. Ganesan (20), S. Mohammed Ibrahim (22) and D. Murugan (27) all from Lingapuram and surrounding areas in the town. Those admitted to the hospital are D. Ayyappan (22), relative of Murugan, M. Saravanakumar (23), S. Antony (22) of Srivilliputtur and Sastha Saravanan (13).
While all the victims were admitted to the Sivakasi hospital at around 1.10 p.m., Murugan was found lying unconscious in his house and rushed to hospital at around 5.30 p.m. where he was declared dead.
The police said that the victims had left home on Saturday evening claiming that they were going to Courtallam.
Persons missing
South Zone Inspector General of Police, K. P. Shanmuga Rajeswaran, who visited Sivakasi, said there were a few more persons involved in the drinking. “It seems there was a quarrel among them and some of them are missing. We are on the lookout for those persons,” he said.
The police have collected samples of IMFL bottles from three TASMAC shops in the area. The police said that except for the group of people no one else had any problem.
Meanwhile, four persons from the town came to the GH here complaining about irritation in their throats. “These people had consumed liquor in the town on Sunday. Probably, they got admitted out of fear after knowing about the deaths,” Mr. Rajeswaran said. They are under observation.
