Rectified spirit the villain ?

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. Rectified spirit is suspected to be the cause of the hooch tragedy at Menambedu, sources in the Prohibition Enforcement Wing said.

It is suspected that the victims had consumed the spirit in empty stomach without mixing water in adequate proportion. It is also possible that some adulterant was also in the brew.

The incident was perhaps the first hooch tragedy in the State this year. Though the police repeatedly claim that ``vigil has been intensified'', hooch tragedies continue to claim a heavy toll. Last year there were two incidents which claimed 16 lives as against 25 in 1999 in four instances. In 1998, 69 died in seven incidents.

Rectified spirit comes in handy to the illicit liquor traders to pass off the chemical to addicts from the poorest section of society. Catering to the needs of the sellers are truck drivers who sell small portions in Tamil Nadu while smuggling it from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to Kerala and at times Pondicherry.

Though the truck drivers and cleaners are arrested, the origin of the chemical is never traced in several cases. One reason explained is that drivers often change en route and the police are not able to apprehend the real smugglers. In fact, instances are not wanting where trucks carrying smuggled rectified spirit are `piloted' by persons who travel in posh cars. They warn the truck drivers about the presence of police if any along the route.

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Section  : Southern States
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