20 Dead in Hooch Tragedy in Sangrur, Panjab

Since 20 Mar, as many as 20 people aged 25-70 have died from consuming spurious liquor, also known as hooch, in Panjab’s Sangrur district. Gujjran village in Dirba constituency, one of the hotspots of spurious liquor deaths, is represented by senior AAP leader and state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Later deaths were reported from the block’s Tibbi Ravidaspura and Dhandoli Khurd villages. Initially, AAP leader Aman Arora said, ‘The government is not responsible because those who died did not buy liquor from government outlets.’ Opposition SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said, ‘AAP legislators are sheltering drug traffickers and even taking monthlies from them. The latest hooch tragedy reveals how deep the rot has set in.’ As the toll has increased, the state govt. announced a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an Additional Director General of Police to probe the case. On 25 Mar, CM Bhagwant Mann visited the affected. The SIT preliminary investigations found Methanol, a fatal chemical used in industrial products, in the liquor. On 25 Mar, Panjab police recovered 32K liters of raw material used to prepare illicit liquor from several villages on the banks of river Satluj in Ferozepur district. The Sangrur hooch tragedy is the worst hooch tragedy in Panjab since 2020 when 112 people died upon consuming poisonous liquor. Then in the opposition, the AAP repeatedly claimed it would eradicate the hooch mafia if given a chance to rule the state.