Madhya Pradesh illicit liquor deaths: Sagar hooch tragedy toll touches 13; magisterial inquiry ordered

Sagar: An illicit liquor incident in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district has claimed 13 lives, while several others remain under medical observation, prompting the district administration to order a magisterial inquiry.

District Collector Pratibha Pal said the inquiry will examine the reasons behind the incident, the sequence of events, the people responsible and measures needed to prevent such incidents in the future.

Speaking to the reporters here, Pal on Monday said, "An order for a magisterial inquiry has been issued regarding the incident. What were the reasons for this incident, what sequence of events led to it happening, who are the people responsible behind it, what steps should be taken to ensure this incident does not recur in the future; this inquiry has been constituted on all these matters. 13 people have died in this, and their postmortems have been conducted."


She said postmortems of all 13 deceased have been conducted and four to five people are currently under critical care monitoring.

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"Currently, 4 to 5 people are under critical care monitoring. People who have been continuously screened in various villages by the health department's team, and in whom any symptoms have been found, are also under observation in their district hospitals and medical colleges, and many of them have been discharged today as well. The remaining people will also be discharged after their medical observation period is completed," she further said.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Digvijaya Singh alleged that the Excise Department, Police Department and BJP leaders were responsible for the incident.

He demanded arrests in connection with the deaths, saying that the person from whose shop the liquor originated, along with officials who allegedly allowed it to happen, should face homicide charges.

"The Excise Department, the Police Department, and BJP leaders--all three are culpable. Bombay Whisky and Gold Whisky arrived. How did they get here? Which distillery did they come from? What was your department doing? Who is the contractor? Arrests for the crime of homicide should be made against the person from whose shop this originated, as well as the officials who allowed this to happen," Singh said in the press conference.

Congress leader Umesh Singhar also criticised the Madhya Pradesh government over deaths linked to illicit liquor, questioning its focus on Hindu issues while alleging that it has failed to ensure proper arrangements for the community.

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"They keep talking about Hindus repeatedly, but Hindus are dying in the entirety of Bhagirath, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Sagar--so what kind of talk about Hindus is this? They just want to scare people in the name of Muslims and take votes from Hindus, but they are unable to provide proper arrangements for Hindus--this is Madhya Pradesh," Singhar said.