14 die after drinking illicit alcohol in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district

At least 14 people from three villages died and several others fell ill allegedly after drinking spurious alcohol in Morena district, 465 km north of Bhopal, late Monday night, police said on Tuesday.

Two of the men died at a hospital in Gwalior on Tuesday evening taking the toll to 14.

As many as 19 men who fell ill after drinking spurious liquor have been hospitalised in Morena and Gwalior, according to inspector general (IG) of police Manoj Sharma.

"An FIR has been lodged against 7 persons who sold the spurious liquor to the victims. A reward of ₹10,000 has been announced on arrest of each of the accused," Sharma said.

The tragedy in Morena comes less than three months after at least 14 people lost lives in Ujjain district in a similar incident.

District excise officer Javed Ahmad and Bagchini police station in-charge in Morena district Avinash Rathore were suspended on the ground of dereliction of duty, officials said.

The deceased include Ram Kumar Kirar, Dharmendra Singh, Dilip Shakya, Jitendra Jatav, Sarnam Kirar, Kedar Jadhav, Mukesh Kirar and Mukut Singh Rathore, residents of Manpur-Chhaira village, Bunty, Jitendra and Ramnivas, residents of Pawali village and Amar Singh, a resident of Bilaiyapura, police said.

“Twelve persons died and seven fell after drinking what is suspected to be spurious liquor. An FIR has been lodged under section 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of Madhya Pradesh Excise Act. Investigation in the case is going on. Some people have been detained for questioning,” deputy inspector general (DIG) of police of Morena range Rajesh Hingankar had said earlier in the day.

A police officer who did not wish to be named said the victims were in a group who attended a party where they drank. It was around midnight when the victims started falling ill and their condition deteriorated leading to the death of 10 of them on the way to hospitals.

Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said that illicit alcohol was responsible for the casualties.

“The deaths caused by spurious liquor in Morena are unfortunate and painful. A police station in charge has been suspended. A separate team is being sent for an investigation. None of the guilty will be spared.”

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also termed the incident as unfortunate in a tweet and said the guilty would not be spared.

“Though investigation in the case is going on, the district excise officer has been suspended on the ground of his carelessness in supervision. As and when facts during the investigation come to light the guilty will not be spared. We will take a stern action,” he said.

The opposition Congress, however, attacked the BJP government for the tragedy.

State Congress president Kamal Nath said, “The mafia who were crushed by the then Congress government are operating with impunity during the BJP government. The liquor mafia continues to wreak havoc in the state. Earlier they killed about 16 people in Ujjain and now they have killed more than 10 in Morena.”