Amritsar/Majitha, May 13- 17 people died last night after consuming poisonous liquor in five villages under Majitha constituency of Amritsar district. This has been confirmed by an official spokesperson. Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner had said that the death toll was 14 and six patients were admitted to the hospital.
The police have registered a case against the sellers of spurious liquor and started action. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed grief over the lives lost due to consuming poisonous liquor and said that the killers of innocent people will not be spared. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahni has also said that the culprits will not be spared. Meanwhile, the police have registered a case under the Excise Act and arrested seven people including the main accused Prabhjit Singh and his accomplice Kulbir Singh alias Jaggu (brother of the main accused Prabhjit), Sahib Singh alias Sarai, Gurjant Singh, Ninder Kaur and wife Jeeta, resident of Thariewal. Former MLA Bikram Singh Majithia has expressed deep grief over the incident and held the Aam Aadmi Party government responsible in this matter. Meanwhile, the official spokesperson said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is reaching village Mardi. According to the information, last night, people of villages like Bhangali, Thariewal, Mardi Kalan, Talwandi Khumman, Patalpuri etc. drank liquor supplied by some persons involved in the business of selling illegal liquor and after some time their health deteriorated. Some of them later died while the rest have been admitted to the hospital for treatment. It should be remembered that a few years ago, during the Congress government, 19 people died in this area due to consuming poisonous liquor and this issue was very heated at that time. This poisonous liquor has already extinguished the lights of dozens of houses.
Upon receiving information about the incident, Deputy Commissioner Amritsar Mrs. Sakshi Sahni and SSP Amritsar Rural Maninder Singh, Civil Surgeon Kirandeep Kaur and other high officials reached the spot. They are taking stock of the entire situation.
Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahni said that information about this was received yesterday evening and they took immediate action and sent teams of the Health Department to the villages. These teams motivated the people and they have been brought to hospitals. He said that the condition of some people is better. He said that the main accused who supplied the poisonous liquor in this case has been arrested and efforts are being made to arrest the other people. They have appealed to the people that if anyone has consumed this poisonous liquor, they should come forward for treatment.
The bodies have been sent to Amritsar for postmortem. The Deputy Commissioner said that the culprits will not be spared at any cost.
Meanwhile, the police have taken action and registered a case under the Excise Act and arrested Prabhjit Singh alias Babbu, Kulbir Singh alias Jaggu, Sahib Singh alias Rai, Gurjant alias Janta, Sikander Singh alias Pappu and Ninder Kaur. The main kingpin involved in this Gorakhdhande, Sahib Singh, has been arrested from Rajasansi. The police have also arrested 4 other accused who purchased liquor from this kingpin and further supplied it to the villages. In the last seven hours, a total of 6 people have been arrested. Teams have been immediately sent to the outer states to arrest the firms supplying liquor.
According to the information received from the police, the deceased in this incident have been identified as Major Singh alias Modi, Paramjit Singh alias Pamma, Sarabjit Singh alias Shabba, Sajjat ??Singh alias Sikander, all residents of village Mardi Kalan, Joginder Singh alias Manna, Karnail Singh alias Mahant, Jeeta alias Siti, resident of village Thariewal, Balbir Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Romanjit Singh alias Romi, all residents of village Bhangali Kalan. The investigation conducted by the Majitha police so far has revealed that Prabhjit Singh alias Babbu and Kulbir Singh alias Jaggu prepare and supply large quantities of alcohol and illicit liquor and they further supplied this poisonous liquor to Sahib Singh, Gurjant alias Janta, Sikander Singh alias Pappu, resident of village Mardi Kalan, Ninder Kaur, Paramjit Singh alias Pamma, resident of village Thariewal and Raja, resident of Bhangali Kalan. 14 people have died after drinking this alcohol.
Will not spare the killers of innocent people: Chief Minister.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed grief over the deaths due to consumption of poisonous liquor in Majitha constituency and said that the culprits will not be spared in this case. He said in a post on X, “These killers of innocent people will not be spared. These are not deaths but murders. Those who spread poisoned liquor in people’s houses will be punished as per the law.” The Chief Minister prayed to God for the departed souls and said that the government stands with the victim families and will provide them all possible help.
Amritsar District Rural Police’s NSP Maninder Singh said that the preliminary investigation in the poisoned liquor case has revealed that Prabhjit Singh had supplied 50 litres of ethanol, which was diluted with water and converted into 120 litres. Sahib Singh used to procure ethanol online and supply it through buses and courier services. He said that several firms have been identified which sell ethanol online. He said that police teams are investigating.
Former cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majitha said that the government is protecting the main accused. He alleged that officials of the excise department were also involved in this racket. He also demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each victim. He said that the government has failed to catch the smugglers of spurious and illegal liquor.
Majitha DSP and SHO of the police station suspended
DGP Gaurav Yadav has issued orders for the suspension of Majitha DSP and SHO of Majitha police station in this case.
Yadav said in a post on X that action has been taken against both of them on charges of negligence in this case and a departmental inquiry will be conducted in this regard. He revealed that nine persons including the main accused have been arrested in this case so far, including several distributors who supplied the poisonous liquor. He said that for this, ethanol was ordered online, which was used to prepare the poisonous liquor. The police are conducting further investigation in this case.