IDUKKI: A 40-year-old man died on Thursday while the condition of his two friends is critical after they consumed liquor from a bottle found abandoned on the roadside in Idukki's Adimali on Sunday.
Kunjumon of Padayattil house died at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday morning. His friends Manoj alias Manu, 28, of Madapparambil house, Keerithode and Anilkumar, 38, of Puthanparambil are under treatment at the hospital.
As per the sources with the police, Apsarakkunnu resident Sudheesh found a bottle filled with 375ml liquor near a culvert on Apsara theatre road in Adimali on Sunday morning. He soon informed his friends Manu, Kunjumon and Anilkumar, and the team except Sudheesh to drink the 'liquor' by the side of the road.
However, soon after they consumed the liquid, one of them fainted while others started feeling sick. Although they were rushed to Adimali taluk hospital, they were referred to the Kottayam Medical College as their condition turned serious.
Adimali sub-inspector Judy T P said the police in their primary investigation expect the presence of pesticide in the liquor. The police have found a hole in the bottle cap, through which someone might have mixed pesticides into it.
“However, what actually had mixed into the liquor can be said only after the results of the liquor sent for chemical examination is received,” he said. He said the police are also probing whether someone has intentionally done it to kill them.
Sudheesh is presently under the custody of the police and is being questioned.