India News | Hooch Toll Rises to Nine, Husband of Panchayat Poll Candidate Held for Serving Illicit Liquor
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Haridwar (U' Two more villagers who had fallen ill allegedly after consuming illicit liquor in the district died on Monday taking the death toll in the tragedy to nine.
Haridwar (U'khand), Sep 12 (PTI) Two more villagers who had fallen ill allegedly after consuming illicit liquor in the district died on Monday taking the death toll in the tragedy to nine.
The husband of a panchayat poll candidate has been arrested and sent to jail for allegedly distributing the hooch to lure voters.
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Vijendra Singh, a quack, was arrested on Sunday and 35 litres of illicit liquor seized from his home, Pathri police station incharge Devendra Singh Tomar said.
Singh was sent to jail after being produced in a local court on Monday.
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He has "confessed" to his crime saying he had served hooch to 20 villagers, the official claimed.
However, the candidate who is contesting for the post of Pradhan and her brother-in-law are still on the run, he said.
The accused were booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC and sections 60/62 of the Excise Act, Tomar said.
The three-tier panchayat polls in Haridwar district are to be held on September 26.
Four more villagers who had consumed illicit liquor are battling for life at the hospital.
One of them is serious, Tomar said.
Five villagers had died and a number of others fell ill on Saturday after drinking spurious liquor in Shivgarh and Phoolgarh villages in Laksar block of the district.
Police and PAC personnel have been deployed in the affected villages and a free medical camp has been set up in the area for the treatment of those who had fallen ill.
Affected families have demanded compensation alleging that illicit liquor was distributed in collusion with the police.
Three police personnel including Pathri police station SHO Ravindra Singh and nine excise department employees including excise inspector Bharat Singh have been suspended so far following the incident.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)