AGRA: Ten daily wage workers died in four Agra villages over the past three days after sudden “deterioration” of health. Their families said it was because of spurious liquor. Late on Wednesday evening, police said forensic reports of four men they had sent for testing confirmed liquor poisoning.
“At least 10 deaths have been reported so far — three in Kaulara Kalan, one in Barkula, two in Gadhi Jahan and four in Devri village,” ADG (Agra zone) Rajeev Krishna told TOI. “The report from the forensic science laboratory in Agra confirmed the presence of methyl alcohol in the four viscera samples we had sent. They died because of spurious liquor.”
Families TOI spoke to also said the men had consumed spurious liquor before they fell sick. “Father came home drunk on Sunday night. After a while, he complained of stomach ache and started puking. He drank again the next day and got sicker,” said Chanchal, whose father Anil, a dairy worker from Kaulara Kalan, died. The same happened to Radhe Shyam, also from Kaulara Kalan. Both were in their early 40s. At Barkula, Bhupendra, whose father Gaya Prasad, a 50-year-old farm hand, died, said his father had gone out with Anil, his friend, and was drunk when he got home. Within hours, he got sick and died while being taken to the hospital
Three of the 10 men — Chandrabhan Kushwaha, 43, Ram Sahai, 35, and Roop Singh, 38 — were cremated before an autopsy could be conducted.
The family of another man who died, Ramveer Singh, 45, alleged that the police cremated his body “forcefully”. “My uncle was hospitalised on August 22 after his condition started deteriorating. He had consumed hooch. He died on Tuesday evening,” said Yogesh, his nephew. Radhe and Anil, from the same village, had died earlier.
“Police sent the body for an autopsy at night. We brought it back to the village around 1am. After 20 minutes or so, cops who were present there asked us to take it for cremation. Everyone was surprised because Hindu rituals don’t allow last rites to be performed at night,” said Yogesh. “We told them that his son Deepak works as a labourer in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. We would wait because he was on his way. But they didn’t listen and put his body in an ambulance.”
ADG Krishna said he would look into the allegations. “Action will be taken if cremation was done against their wishes and without proper rituals,” he added.
Four liquor vends in the area, meanwhile, were sealed for inquiry, Agra SP (east) K Venkat Ashok said. No FIR has been registered so far.
