Five persons died while two others fell ill after they allegedly consumed spurious liqour in Hatma area, located at the heart of Ranchi, on late Saturday evening. The administration has however maintained that the cause of the deaths could be ascertained only after autopsy report.
The deceased persons have been identified as Asok Mirdha (60), Pinto Thakur (30), Paras Thakur, Vijay Mirdha (40) and Billu Mirdha (50). Police seized bodies of the deceased persons even as their relatives were readying to perform their last rites on Sunday morning. A medical board has been formed to carry out the autopsy of the dead bodies. Locals said most of the deceased persons vomited and complained of illness and dysentery before dying.
Sister-in-law of one of the deceased Vijay Mirdha said that Vijay had a cup of tea before he complained of uneasiness. She added that soon after he passed away. Local people admitted that sale of illicit liqour was rampant in the area and that large number of the people consumed alcohol. After the incident the district administration setup a health camp at a local primary school to treat persons complaining of vomiting, stomach ache and other illnesses.
Meanwhile a host of district administration and police officials including Additional Director General of Police RK Mallick and Ranchi DIG Amol V Homkar visited the spot. Mallick stated that his findings reveals that one person died of heart attack. Two did not exhibit symptoms of illicit liqour consumption while two other showed the clear signs. One lady has been admitted in hospital in critical condition where doctors are trying to stabilise her condition, he said.
Ranchi SSP Anis Gupta added, “It is not clear whether all the deaths took place due to spurious liqour. We would conduct inquiry whether the cause of the death was poisoning, food poisoning or spurious liqour”.
Urban Development Minister CP Singh, Kanke MLA Jitu Charan Ram and former union minister Subodh Kant Sahay also visited the locality later on. Sahay blaming the Government for tragedy asked, “What we should expect from the people when the Government itself is selling liqour?” He asked the people to provide the necessary details regarding the incident to the police.
Meanwhile the district administration has formed a medical board to carry out the autopsy of the deceased persons. The district police and the Excise Department also undertook extensive search operations in the entire Hatma basti to trace illicit liqour. Police detained four suspected people from different places by the afternoon but had to let go three of them later on. The team comprising of DSP and police officers carried out the raids. The City SP Aman Kumar was present on the spot with a large contingent of police throughout the day.