The Hindu : National : 17 die, 12 take ill in hooch tragedy

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Tuesday, Sep 07, 2010
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National

17 die, 12 take ill in hooch tragedy

Staff Reporter

MALAPPURAM: Seventeen people, including a woman, were killed and nearly 12 hospitalised after consuming toddy suspected to be mixed with methyl alcohol in various parts of Malappuram district of Kerala since Sunday afternoon. Most of them died on Monday morning. Five of the dead are believed to be from Tamil Nadu.

The victims had reportedly consumed the brew from shops at Kuttippuram, Perasannur, Alathiyur, Pullooral, and Vaniyambalam. The toddy supplied in these shops reportedly came from Chitur. Forensic experts, who examined the bodies of the victims from Kuttippuram on Monday afternoon, found the presence of methyl alcohol in the toddy.

Dhanasekharan, 50, who used to beg to make a living, was found dead on the Kuttippuram railway station platform on Sunday evening. Although the police registered a case of unnatural death, spurious liquor was never suspected until M.E.S. Medical College, Perinthalmanna, reported the death of Neethi, 25, a youth from Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, on Sunday night.

The recovery of an unidentified man's body from under the Kuttippuram overbridge late on Sunday night triggered panic, raising the toll to three. Another body was found near the railway track at Perasannur on Monday morning. Both of them are suspected to be Tamils.

Local people destroyed the toddy shops at Perasannur and Kuttippuram. The police arrested the owner of the two shops. All toddy shops in the district were closed on Monday following an order by Superintendent of Police K. Sethuraman.

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