IDUKKI: A 40-year-old man, who was under treatment at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital after consuming liquor from a bottle found lying on the roadside in Adimaly, died on Thursday. The deceased is Kunjumon of Padayattil House, Adimaly. The condition of two of his friends — Manoj alias Manu, 28, of Madapparambil House, Keerithode, and Anilkumar, 38, of Puthanparambil — who also consumed the liquor is said to be serious.
The police suspect that the liquor was laced with pesticide. According to police sources, the bottle with 375ml liquor was found lying on the roadside by one of Manu’s friends, Sudheesh, a resident of Apsarakkunnu in Adimaly, on January 8. He found the bottle near a culvert on the Apsara theatre road in Adimaly, and soon informed his friends Manu, Kunjumon and Anilkumar. Except Sudheesh, the others consumed the liquor from the roadside itself.
However, soon after they consumed the liquor, one of them fainted while the others felt uneasiness. Though they were rushed to the Adimaly taluk hospital, the authorities referred them to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital as their condition worsened.
Adimaly sub-inspector Judy T P said the primary investigation revealed that there was a hole in the cap of the bottle, through which someone might have put the pesticide. “However, we can identify the exact substance that was mixed only after getting the results of the liquor sample sent for chemical examination,” he said.
Judy said the police are probing whether someone had deliberately tried to kill one of the friends. Currently, Sudheesh is in police custody for interrogation.