In order to stop the production and sale of illicit liquor, Maharashtra government is considering a proposal to amend the existing law.
Total of Rs 40 lakh cash and over 53,000 litres of illicit liquor was seized
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
To ensure free, fair and transparent assembly elections next month in Punjab, the police have intensified search operations, especially in the border districts, to keep a vigil on illegal activities in vulnerable areas.
Empty bottles of liquor were discovered inside the premises of the legislature in dry Bihar, in a fresh embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government in the state, which has been drawing flak over recent hooch tragedies that have claimed more than 40 lives.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Friday once again passed a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to exempt the state from National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and allow it to admit students to medical courses based on Plus Two exam marks.
The toll due to consumption of spurious liquor in the Malad area of Mumbai climbed to 94 with the death of four more persons on Sunday.
About 140 people out of 193 who were admitted to various government medical facilities after they consumed the spurious liquor on Tuesday night were currently stable, Kallakurichi district collector M S Prasanth said.
So far, the maximum 83 deaths have taken place in Tarn Taran district, followed by 14 in Batala and 13 in Amritsar. The tragedy has been unfolding since Wednesday evening in the three districts.
Seizures in poll-bound states see sharp rise since implementation of Model Code of Conduct.
Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.
Ten persons died last night, while five succumbed to the spurious liquor on Tuesday.
As part of efforts to ensure peaceful, free and fair assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana, the Election Commission has directed the authorities to set up effective pickets and carry out patrolling to check influx of both licensed and illicit arms and ammunition into the poll-bound states.
Aiyar has contended that this results in revenue loss, malpractices and even death of people consuming illicit liquor
The NHRC has issued notices to Maharashtra Government and the Mumbai police commissioner over the hooch tragedy which has claimed over 100 lives so far.
Former MLA Ram Dayal Uikey, the BJP nominee from Pali-Tanakhar seat in Korba district, was present in the vehicle when the cash was seized from there, the police official said.
This is the second liquor tragedy in this district in recent days.
At least seven persons died and 10 others were admitted to different hospitals after consuming spurious liquor at Rojid village in Botad district of Gujarat, a senior police officer said on Monday.
Seven persons have died after drinking illicit liquor at Payradanga village in Hooghly district, the police said.
Six persons, including a woman, died and ten others were seriously ill after they consumed illicit liquor at Radhaballavpur in South 24 Parganas district, an official said on Sunday.
Eighteen more people lost their lives after allegedly consuming illicit liquor in dry Bihar's Siwan and Saran districts, taking the toll in the tragedy to 24, officials said on Thursday.
Wails of grief shook West Bengal's Sangrampur and neighbouring villages as the toll in the state's worst-ever illicit liquor tragedy shot up to 143 amid fears that this may rise further with over 100 victims including labourers, rickshaw-pullers and hawkers battling for life.
The toll in the hooch tragedy in Lucknow and Unnao districts climbed to 38 on Tuesday with the death of seven more persons even as the state excise commissioner was removed in connection with the incident and a state-wide crackdown launched by police against sale of spurious liquor.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the decision was undertaken to avoid the illicit flow of liquor in the state amid a partial lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus after 67 confirmed cases were reported.
The prime suspect in the illicit liquor tragedy, which claimed 170 lives in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, reportedly committed suicide while the kingpin of the hooch trade, Sounder Rajan, was arrested with his wife and daughter-in-law, the police said on Thursday. Investigations took a new turn in the liquor tragedy case as the police recovered the body of Mustu alias Mushtaq from Bangalore Rural district's Kattigenahalli, who reportedly committed suicide by consuming poison
The death toll from the illicit liquor tragedy, which struck parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, rose to 156 on Wednesday even as fresh cases were reported at Malur in Kolar district of Karnataka. As authorities continued with their crackdown on bootlegging, two people, who consumed the hooch in Malur on Tuesday evening, died in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.Eight police personnel, including two sub-inspectors, have been placed under suspension.
Prohibition is resulting in prisons getting overcrowded.
The tragedy took a political hue with CM Yogi Adityanath suggesting the involvement of SP in 'such mischievous acts'.
Rediff Labs analyses the relationship between alcohol and revenue generated and reported drunken driving accidents.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking an independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into a recent hooch tragedy in Bihar, in which at least 30 people have lost their lives.
Of the victims, seven persons died in Rampur police station area and one in Cherki police station area on Monday night, while four were admitted to the Anugarh Narayan Magadh Medical College, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rakesh Dubey said.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been claiming that "more than 100 people" have died. Most media reports have put the death toll to be more than 50.
The incident occurred in Ponneri in Tiruvallur district on Thursday night.
Shutting of stores had not stopped alcohol sales. On the contrary, it had increased black market operations and peddling of illicit hooch, which could cause death/serious injury.
The latest deaths have been recorded in Samastipur district. Earlier, at least 33 people died in Gopalganj and West Champaran districts upon consuming spurious liquor.
"Lok Janshakti Party spent the year 2012 in Jan Sampark Yatra. We worked on all issues, be it Rs. 82,000 crores large-scale corruption or 6,000 MNREGA scandal or people dying after consuming illicit liquor. We conducted the Jan Sampark Yatra on all these issues in 2012 and we announced that we would take out a yatra in 2013. It is after intense thinking that we named this yatra as Bihar Bachao yatra," Paswan told mediapersons here.
Four persons, including the wife of the main accused Noor Islam Sheikh alias 'Khora' Badshah, were arrested on Sunday in connection with West Bengal's worst illicit liquor tragedy that claimed over 170 lives in South 24 Parganas district.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Nitish Kumar and his officers will be behind bars if we come to power," Paswan said. Addressing a rally in Dumraon, Buxar in the run-up to polling in Bihar, Paswan raised several questions before the present state government.
More than 150 people are still under treatment in various hospital of the city, police said, adding that more people have been admitted to the hospitals overnight.
