CHANDIGARH: Despite the death of 176 people in hooch tragedies across Punjab since 2020, successive state governments—irrespective of party—have failed to create any mechanism to prevent the diversion of industrial methanol, which has been used as the key ingredient in all these incidents.
Sources said the spurious liquor was manufactured locally using methanol as a base. To produce the deadly concoction, bootleggers use lahan (raw material), methanol, fermented fruits like oranges and jamun, coarse jaggery, yeast extracted from local plants, wild berries, pears, apricot and peaches, unfiltered or river water, and at times even organic waste, lizards and frogs. This illegal liquor is sold at throwaway prices ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 50.
Sources added that a bottle of beer in Punjab costs around Rs 200, while any brand of Punjab Medium Liquor (Desi Daru) starts from Rs 250 to Rs 300, and the lowest grade whisky is priced at around Rs 400.
“Bootleggers cater to a perpetual demand for cheap alcohol, as a daily-wager on average earns Rs 300 per day and wants to get high after a hectic day,” said an officer. “These people do not drink beer as they want an instant kick.”
Leading consultant psychiatrist Dr Rana Ranbir Singh said, “If you study all the past hooch tragedies in the state, the common link is methanol—a cheap variant for ethanol. This chemical is used in different industries. The question now arises how it is diverted from there to these bootleggers, as it is very dangerous for human consumption, resulting in blindness and then death. The government should make some rules and regulations to monitor its supply to industries to stop its diversion.”
“Methanol is a light, colourless organic chemical compound which is poisonous when ingested by humans and is illegally added to alcoholic beverages,” he said, adding that this kind of spurious liquor is generally bought by daily-wagers as it is quite cheap.
In the latest hooch tragedy in the Majithia area of Amritsar district, 23 people have died so far and 10 others were hospitalised after allegedly consuming spurious liquor.
Last year in March, 20 people died in a similar incident in Sangrur—the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. In that case too, methanol-based liquor was manufactured locally.
A senior official said all 18 individuals accused in the Sangrur hooch case are now facing trial before the additional sessions judge in a special court.
The accused have been charged, and the process of recording their testimonies is ongoing. A probe committee of officers was set up following the incident, which studied the reasons behind the thriving illegal liquor business in the state and recommended the creation of a separate wing in the Punjab Police to curb the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor.
In August 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown when liquor vends were closed, a hooch tragedy struck the Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Batala districts, killing over 135 people.
It was one of the worst such incidents in the country and shook the then Congress-led government under Capt Amarinder Singh. The then DGP Dinkar Gupta proposed the introduction of a stringent law—the Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA)—to deal with such cases, but the proposal was later put on the backburner.