AT least 28 people died and 60 others became ill from drinking spiked bootleg booze in western India, officials have said.
The deaths occurred in Ahmedabad and Botad districts of India’s Gujarat state, where manufacturing, sale and consumption of liquor are prohibited.
Police said industrial methyl alcohol stolen from a chemical unit was used to make the booze.
“There was 98 percent methanol in the liquor they consumed, that means they had consumed methanol only which has increased the death toll,” Bhavnagar Ashok Yadav, inspector general of police, told The Times of India.
Ashish Gupta, Gujarat state’s police chief, said several bootleggers suspected of being involved in selling the spiked alcohol have been detained.
They include owner of the chemicals used to make it, Jayesh Khavadiya, from Narol, and eight alleged accomplices.
The victims are agriculture labourers and sanitary workers who did initially did not report being ill out of fear of being arrested.
The local authorities have formed 100 teams to go out into villages in a bid to ensure those affected are taken to hospital.
