LUCKNOW: Six people died and four are critical after consumption of spurious liquor in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district, adjoining state capital Lucknow, on Wednesday morning.
All those who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor were admitted in critical condition to a district hospital on Tuesday night.
District Magistrate Akhilesh Tiwari, however, claimed only three persons had died in the hooch tragedy; the others, he said, died due to the intense cold wave. All six bodies were sent for postmortem examination to ascertain the reason for death.
Acknowledging the tragedy as a serious case of laxity on part of district excise officials, state excise minister Jai Pratap Singh assured action against the officials concerned. “I have sent a team of excise officials to Barabanki to ascertain the facts as it is a very sensitive issue,” he said, adding that those responsible for the tragedy would not be spared.
“Action under relevant sections of the new law formed to rein in such elements would be taken. All those who are found responsible for the production of spurious liquor in the district and also the gang involved would be brought to books,” he said.
The Yogi Adityanath government had recently passed a bill providing death penalty and life imprisonment for those dealing in illicit or spurious liquor. The Bill got the governor’s assent on Monday.