25 dead in India after drinking toxic liquor

Published May 30, 2021
Local media reported that the liquor was purchased on Thursday from a shop run by two brothers. — Dawn/File
Local media reported that the liquor was purchased on Thursday from a shop run by two brothers. — Dawn/File

At least 25 people have died after drinking toxic alcohol in northern India, police said on Sunday.

Police have arrested 10 men for selling the liquor in sprawling Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

“So far 25 persons have died and a few others are admitted in the hospital and are undergoing treatment. Ten persons have been arrested,” Ajab Singh, a police spokesperson, told AFP.

Local media reported that the liquor was purchased on Thursday from a shop run by two brothers.

Liquor stores in the state had been shuttered under a coronavirus lockdown imposed to combat a devastating wave. About 160,000 people have died countrywide since April 1.

But as case numbers started to slow, Uttar Pradesh allowed liquor sales to resume in some districts on May 11 with restricted hours.

While it is unclear how the liquor in the Uttar Pradesh case was produced, hundreds of people die every year in India from cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries, affordable for even the poorest.

Of the estimated five billion litres of alcohol drunk every year in the country, around 40 per cent is illegally produced, according to the International Spirits and Wine Association of India.

The liquor is often spiked with methanol — a highly toxic form of alcohol sometimes used as an anti-freeze — to increase its potency. If ingested, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

Last year, 98 people died in the northern state of Punjab after drinking bootleg booze. And in 2019, some 150 people died in northeastern Assam state, most of them tea plantation workers.

Opinion

Editorial

Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...
Islamabad protest
Updated 20 Nov, 2024

Islamabad protest

As Nov 24 draws nearer, both the PTI and the Islamabad administration must remain wary and keep within the limits of reason and the law.
PIA uncertainty
20 Nov, 2024

PIA uncertainty

THE failed attempt to privatise the national flag carrier late last month has led to a fierce debate around the...
T20 disappointment
20 Nov, 2024

T20 disappointment

AFTER experiencing the historic high of the One-day International series triumph against Australia, Pakistan came...