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AT LEAST 57 DIED FROM DRINKING ILLICIT LIQUOR IN DRY INDIAN STATE OF GUJARAT

By Susan Lewis

27-7-2022



Source: News 18 Gujarati

At least 57 people have died and as many as 150 hospitalised in the western Indian state of Gujarat, one of India’s five dry states, after drinking contaminated illicit liquor.

Gujarat police said about 10 people have been arrested and some 475 litres of bootleg liquor have been recovered.

The main suspect, Jayesh, has allegedly supplied 600 litres of methanol to bootleggers who mixed them into illegal moonshine. It is believed that Jayesh procured the methanol from a local chemical company.

The outbreak took place on Monday in the Botad and Ahmedabad districts of Gujarat state, all of the victims are villagers who had consumed illegal moonshine.

Gujarat state is a dry state where the production, sale and consumption of alcohol are illegal. Some critics say the alcohol ban encourages peddling of illegal and often tainted liquor that is brewed without any regulation.

Local media reports said about 1000 bootleggers are operating in Ahmedabad district alone selling 150,000 to 200,000 litres of moonshine a day.

Poisoning from methanol can cause blindness, heart or respiratory failure and even death. The symptoms include nausea, confusion, vomiting, headache and the inability to coordinate muscle movements.

This week's outbreak is the latest tragedy in India's long battle to fight the illegal trade.

In 2020, at least 120 people died after drinking tainted liquor in northern Punjab state.

In February 2019, over 150 people died and more than 200 were hospitalised in the northeastern state of Assam after drinking illegal moonshine.

Earlier that month, 80 people died in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand died of menthanol poisoning.

(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)

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