Three policemen were on Monday suspended for their alleged inaction in preventing the suspected hooch tragedy at Vareli village here, where the toll rose to 16 with the death of one more person.
In a related development, the Gujarat Government asked the ATS to find out the source of methanol, a highly toxic substance which is said to be responsible for the tragedy.
Surat Range IG NN Komar suspended Inspector Hasmukh Bharwad, Assistant Sub-Inspector Anil Tulsiram and Head Constable Jayatibhai Vazir, all attached to Kadodara police station, for dereliction of duty.
"I have suspended these policemen for not doing their duty properly. Since the last one week, our teams have conducted raids at more than 25 places in that area," he said.
The Government has not officially termed the incident as a hooch tragedy and referred to it as "unnatural deaths".
In-charge District Collector K Rajesh said one more person from Vareli died at Surat Civil Hospital.
"We have learned that one more person of that village, who was admitted to the civil hospital four days back, died today. With this death, the toll has reached 16," Rajesh said.
According to Komar, the post-mortem reports of all deceased are "inconclusive", though they suggested presence of methyl alcohol in their bodies.