UP-Uttarakhand hooch tragedies: Death toll reaches 97, over 200 arrested

Lucknow: Over 200 people have been arrested in relation to the twin hooch tragedies of Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, killing atleast 97 people. In a police crackdown 9,269 litres of hooch was seized in Uttar Pradesh and 1,066 litres was recovered from Uttarakhand, according to sources.

A total of 64 deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh, 54 in Saharanpur district while, 11 people lost their lives in Kushinagar.

Saharanpur District Magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey told media that of the 46 post-mortems conducted so far, 36 were confirmed to have died due to the consumption of spurious liquor.

Meanwhile, 32 deaths were also reported in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

Meerut Superintendent of Police (SP) Ranvijay Singh said 14 people undergoing treatment at the Meerut Medical College, were in serious condition.

As per police sources, the Uttar Pradesh victims had visited Balupur in Roorkie, Uttarakhand, on February 7 for a funeral after which they consumed the illicit liquor.

A total of 215 persons have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, while cases against 297 persons have been registered. Forty-nine cases have been registered in Uttarakhand.

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the tragedy and has suspended many police officials and the Excise Department officers.