Over 200 people have been arrested in a police crackdown, following the massive tragedy, officials said on Sunday. Police raids are being conducted on illegal liquor sellers in many cities of Uttar Pradesh, following the incident.
"Victims consumed spurious liquor in UP as well": While Uttar Pradesh administration has claimed that the victims had visited Balupur in Roorkie, Uttarakhand, on February 7 for a funeral after which they consumed the illicit liquor, residents of Saharanpur told a different story to ABP News. The villagers of Umahi, in Saharanpur district told ABP News that the victims had also consumed liquor in the village after which their health deteriorated.
An outrage prevailed among the villagers against the administration for not taking a strict action against a liquor supplier named Pintu, despite several complaints against him. They said that the police used to set him free after taking money from him. They also claimed that there was no funeral programme in the neighbouring village on the day of tragedy.
Story so far: Police sources have claimed that the victims of Uttar Pradesh had visited Balupur in Roorkie, Uttarakhand, on February 7, after the `tehravin', the 13th day of mourning ritual, following a relative's death in Balupur, after which they consumed the illicit liquor. In an unrelated incident, eleven people have died over the week in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district, allegedly after drinking spurious liquor.
Action taken: In the police crackdown, 9,269 litres of hooch was seized in Uttar Pradesh while 1,066 litres was recovered in Uttarakhand.
A total of 215 persons have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, while cases against 297 persons have been filed. Forty-nine cases have been registered in Uttarakhand.
The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the tragedy and many officials of the police and the Excise Department have been suspended.
Two men were arrested after over 7,000 bottles of smuggled liquor were seized from a truck in the Masuri area along Eastern Peripheral Expressway here, police said Saturday. UP chief secretary Saturday directed the excise and police departments to conduct raids to check the manufacturing of hooch and stop smuggling of liquor in the state. Agarwal said raw material used for making hooch was destroyed following raids by the police and excise teams in the Loni area on Saturday.
UP CM Adityanath's statement: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the entire episode of twin hooch tragedies as highly unfortunate and said that the matter is being probed by all angles, whether it happened due to illicit liquor or it's a conspiracy by others. "Earlier also several Samajwadi leaders were arrested in such kind of mischievous things", Yogi said.
Compensation: CM said he has asked for report on this matter, and the government has initiated Rs 2 lakh compensation to the family of people who lost their lives. Also Rs 50,000 as compensation has been initiated for people whose treatment is going on in hospitals.
Akhilesh Yadav's reaction: Reacting on the deaths after consuming illicit liquor, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav said : “Opposition has been notifying government about such activities, but they didn’t wake up, as government itself is also involved in it. The truth is that without the support of government, such businesses can’t be carried out. Yogi government should accept that they are unable to run the state."