In the aftermath of 10 persons dying after consuming spurious liquor in three police station areas of Agra over four days, the state government suspended nine policemen, including three station house officers, and five Excise department officials including three inspectors, on the basis of a report submitted by a probe team led by ADG (Agra Zone) Rajiv Krishna on Thursday.
While the local police officials had denied that the deaths were due to spurious liquor, the viscera sample tests carried out by forensic experts confirmed the cause of deaths due to methyl alcohol poisoning.
Ten people died in Agra in the past four days after consuming spurious liquor. While four deaths were reported in Deoria village, two died in Garhi Jahan village and four others died in Kaulara Kalan and Barkula villages. Locals complained that spurious liquor was easily available in the villages and urged the administration to crack down on those selling it.
Subsequently, a team led by ADG (Agra Zone) Rajiv Krishan visited the villages and interacted with the family members of the deceased. Agra Divisional Commissioner Amit Gupta and District Magistrate PN Singh also visited the villages to gather ground reports. Four liquor outlets have already been sealed and samples sent for analysis.
Later the ADG (Agra Zone) told media persons, “Nine police personnel, including three SHOs and six constables, have been suspended over the incident. We have also sent a recommendation for action against the guilty Excise officers and the policemen to the government. Reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed the presence of methyl alcohol in four viscera samples sent for testing. Thus the four men died after consuming spurious liquor.”
The suspended SHOs include Inspector of Tajganj police station, Umesh Chandra Tripathi, Inspector of Dauki police station, Ashok Kumar, and Inspector of Shamsabad police station, Raj Kumar Giri.
Meanwhile, the police and Excise department officials were trying to trace down the origin of the spurious alcohol distribution. Opposition leaders have demanded financial compensation to the family members of the deceased.