BARIPADA: At least seven persons, including a primary school teacher, have allegedly died after consuming spurious liquor in Kaptipada area of Mayurbhanj district in the last 10 days. The deaths have been reported from Salachua and Majhigadia panchayats between June 14 and 24.
The deceased have been identified as Chintamani Naik (50, died on June 14) of Raidiha, Gangaram Singh (60) of Dholagand, Nirmal Samal (40) of Majhigadia (both died on June 19), Debendra Solangi (48) of Sulagadia, Birabhadra Naik (40) of Kukudagadi, Ghana Singh (42) of Dangarsahi (all died on June 21) and teacher Kali Charan Senapati (50) of Parasbadi (died on June 24).
Locals alleged that the deceased had consumed liquor from a local hotel during the Raja festival. The hotel owner, who sells liquor prepared and bottled locally, has been absconding since the reports of the deaths
surfaced.
Relatives of the deceased alleged that they had first complained of stomach pain, vomiting and then lost their eye sight before succumbing. Surprisingly, neither of them has been treated in a government hospital nor autopsy conducted on any of the victims to confirm the cause of death.
The State Government on Monday ordered a probe into the allegation. Deputy Excise Superintendent Srikar
Majhi, who called on the
bereaved families, however, refused to buy the theory of spurious liquor deaths.
“There is a wide gap between the day of the incident and the reported deaths. Had they consumed spurious liquor they might have died in a couple of days. During my inquiry, I came to know that while Debendra died of TB, Nirmal fell victim to high blood pressure. Similarly, Birabhadra had consumed liquor on empty stomach for two days. Besides Gangaram, others were habitual drinkers,” he said.
Udala Sub-Collector Saroj Sethi too denied the theory. “We have seized the prescriptions and medicines they had taken during the period. A team of doctors will verify them. The sample of the liquor has been collected for testing. Since there
has been no post-mortem, it will be difficult to ascertain their cause of death,” he added.
Meanwhile, Excise Deputy Commissioner Barendranath Dhal has arrived here to probe the deaths. The district administration has also ordered a crackdown on all liquor dens.