Porni Banerjee | ২০ জুন ২০২৪ ১২ : ২৯Porni Banerjee

At least 34 people died and 100 others were hospitalised on Wednesday after they consumed illicit liquor in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi district, officials said on Thursday, adding that the death toll may rise.

Following the liquor’s adverse effects, five of them with critical condition were admitted to hospitals in Salem, Villupuram, and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry. Those deceased included two woman and a transgender.

Four people have been arrested so far in connection to selling adulterated liquor, of which the Tamil Nadu Police have arrested a man named Govindaraj, who was selling poor quality alcohol. Officials also seized 200 litres of liquor from him, which, when tested, samples were found to contain methyl alcohol.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has expressed grief over the tragic incident and order immediate CID probe into the matter.

“I was shocked and saddened to hear the news of the deaths of people who had consumed adulterated liquor in Kallakurichi. Those involved in the crime have been arrested in this matter. Action has also been taken against the officials who failed to prevent it. Immediate action will be taken if the public informs about those involved in such crimes. Such crimes that ruin the society will be suppressed with an iron fist,” Stalin wrote on X.

Officials said that many men, mostly daily wage labourers from Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district, allegedly consumed the adulterated alcohol sold in packets and sachets, following which the condition of many of them aggravated as they experienced diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach ache, and irritation in the eyes.