The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand has gone up to 97 while over 200 people have been arrested in a police crackdown, officials said on Sunday.
Uttar Pradesh reported a total of 64 deaths, with 54 reported from Saharanpur district and 11 from Kushinagar.
Saharanpur District Magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey told IANS that of the 46 post-mortems conducted so far, 36 were confirmed to have died due to the consumption of spurious liquor.
Fourteen people undergoing treatment at the Meerut Medical College were in a serious condition, informed Meerut Superintendent of Police (SP) Ranvijay Singh.
Excise Department officials said that 32 deaths were reported from Haridwar.
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.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, has ordered a probe and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the survivors.
The spurious liquor was consumed in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar on Friday.
Uttarakhand excise minister Prakash Pant said, “We have suspended 13 staff of the excise department for negligence in duty. We have ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister has asked the district administration to take all necessary steps for the treatment of villagers, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor.
It is believed that the liquor was brought from a village located on the border of UP-Uttarakhand.