MP hooch tragedy: 11 dead as probe points to suspected UP liquor link

The Bundelkhand belt of Madhya Pradesh has been struck by its second hooch tragedy in six years, leaving 11 dead in Sagar district, with investigators pointing to a suspected link to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where cheaper alcohol draws daily buyers across the border.

More than a dozen districts in Madhya Pradesh share boundaries with UP, where alcohol and petrol are comparatively much cheaper, encouraging people to cross the border to buy them, say locals. 

In February 2021, four persons died in Chhatarpur district, which is also part of Bundelkhand, after consuming a country-made liquor brand called 'Dilse' purchased from a shop in UP, according to police.

On Sunday, 11 persons died and 54 others fell ill, many with symptoms like blurred vision and dizziness, after consuming spurious liquor in MP's Sagar district, with a preliminary probe indicating the liquor was supplied from Lalitpur in UP, officials said.

This time, the victims are suspected to have consumed spurious whisky falsely labelled as ‘Sagar Gold’ as well as another country-made liquor brand, MP Excise Commissioner Deepak Saxena said.

“The packing of the spurious liquor looked original, like that of local brands -- Sagar Gold, a whisky and a country-made liquor brand. The agent of the licensed liquor seller sold the alcohol, and people thought it was genuine,” he said.

The Bundelkhand region straddles northern MP and Uttar Pradesh. Sagar and Lalitpur district share a substantial direct boundary.

“A link between people in Lalitpur, a district in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, and the local liquor contractor (outlet owner) has emerged during the investigation into the 11 deaths,” Sagar Range Deputy Inspector General of Police Shashindra Chouhan said.

Alcohol and petrol are comparatively much cheaper in UP, which encourages scores of people from MP to cross the nearly seamless border to buy both, local journalist Pushpendra Singh said. 

Police have detained some persons for questioning and those named as accused in the FIRs are being taken into custody, he said, adding that they would be arrested once the charges against them are confirmed.

Sagar Assistant Excise Commissioner Kirti Dubey, Additional District Excise Officer Dilip Kandeka and Sub-Inspector Roshani Urathi have been suspended, Saxena said.

Area Deputy Commissioner Neerja Shrivastava was transferred out of Sagar and attached to the department’s headquarters in Gwalior, he said.

Saxena, who visited Sagar, said the preliminary investigation suggested that the tragedy was caused by fake liquor that had been supplied, while police were probing where it had been manufactured.

The latest tragedy has echoes of the February 2021 incident in Chhatarpur district, when around 150 people gathered for a party in Paretha village. They purchased liquor branded ‘Dilse’ from a shop located about 500 metres away in neighbouring UP and consumed it, the then Chhatarpur Superintendent of Police Sachin Sharma had said.

In another incident in January 2021, nearly 24 persons died after consuming spurious liquor in MP’s Morena district, part of the Chambal region.