The Hindu : Front Page : Hooch tragedy toll in State mounts to 123

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Hooch tragedy toll in State mounts to 123

Karnataka Bureau

Nine taken into custody; 17 police personnel suspended

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

inconsolable: A relative of one of the hooch tragedy victims crying her heart out at Bowring Hospital on Wednesday.

Bangalore: The death toll in the hooch tragedy in the State has touched 123, with 10 more people who consumed illicit liquor dying in the past 24 hours. This takes the overall toll in Karnataka and the neighbouring pockets of Tamil Nadu to 156.

Sources in the Police and the Excise departments told The Hindu that stern action had been taken to crack down on bootlegging, considering the fact that the sale of hooch is still going on.

In Bangalore, 10 more people have died, taking the toll to 62. Three residents of D.J. Halli died at the Bowring Hospital on Wednesday. Seven, including one from Hoskote in Bangalore Rural district, died late on Tuesday night. According to the Police Department, 31 people have died in Kolar district and 30 in Bangalore district. Two road construction workers, identified as Jayaram from Tamil Nadu and Nitinkumar from Orissa, died at Chikkondahalli in Malur taluk on Wednesday.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur, accompanied by Congress leader R. Roshan Baig, visited the Emergency Block of Bowring Hospital on Wednesday.

The former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who has also been helping in providing relief to the victims, blamed the administration for the tragedy. The Central Crime Branch Police has taken into custody five persons who are said to be distributors and sellers of illicit liquor.

In Bangalore, nine police personnel, including the inspector of D.J. Halli Police Station, were placed under suspension on Wednesday for “negligence” in connection with the hooch tragedy deaths. They include Inspector M. Mohammed Rafiq; Sub-Inspector Mohammed Mukaram; Head Constables Prakash and Raju; and constables Ravi, Nagesh, Amjad Ali, Nataraj and Gunasekhar.

In the wake of a fresh incident of sale of illicit liquor at Malur in Kolar district, eight police personnel were suspended on Wednesday. They include Masti station Sub-Inspector Shivkumar; Tekal outpost Assistant Sub-Inspector Subramani; Vemgal Sub-Inspector Vasanth; Narsapur outpost Assistant Sub-Inspector Krishnappa; and four constables.

In a joint operation by the Bangalore and Kolar police on Wednesday, four persons were taken into custody for allegedly supplying illicit liquor manufactured at Bylanarsapura in Hoskote taluk.

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