• Gujrat hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 21, 30 others in Hospital

    National
    Gujrat hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 21, 30 others in Hospital
    The Ahmedabad crime branch and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) have also joined the probe.

    Digital Desk: The number of deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor in Gujarat’s Botad district has gone up to 21, reports said on Tuesday.

    There have already been 16 fatalities in the district, according to the Botad police control room.

    Since Monday, five patients from the neighbouring Ahmedabad district's Dhandhuka taluka have also passed away while receiving medical treatment.

    According to officials, some 30 patients are still receiving care at several public hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad, Barvala, and Dhandhuka.

    The police have detained three people from the Botad area who were reportedly involved in producing and marketing the fake country-made booze, according to Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia.

    The issue was found early on Monday when some residents of Rojid village in Barvala taluka and other nearby villages were sent to the public hospitals in Barvala and Botad towns when their health began to worsen.

    A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a deputy superintendent of police would be constituted to look into the event and apprehend the bootleggers who sold the fake alcohol, according to Inspector General of Police (Bhavnagar region) Ashok Kumar Yadav.

    It is to be noted that the Ahmedabad crime branch and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) have also joined the probe.