Villupuram: Toxic liquor takes the lives of five individuals, including a woman in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district, PTI reported.
Also, four police officers were suspended in connection with the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin informed.
Police informed that all the five dead were admitted to a government hospital late on Saturday. Three of them died first, and two others, including the woman, died on Sunday. Police said that none of them responded to treatment.
Police further said that a person has been arrested in connection with the incident, and police are looking out for more people.
The poisoning incident happened at Ekkiyarkuppam at Marakanam near Villupuram on Saturday night.
CM Stalin underlined his government's resolve to eradicate the menace of hooch and drugs. He had announced ₹ 10 lakh as relief to each of the families of the three men who died earlier.
However, opposition AIADMK's general secretary and Leader of Opposition K Palaniswami, used the situation to attack the ruling party. He claimed that during their term of 10 years from 2011 to 2021, there were no incidents of illicit liquor in the state. He blamed the ruling DMK's 'inefficiency' for the deaths. "Steps should be at least taken now against illicit liquor," he said in a social media post.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi founder Dr S Ramadoss sought against officials concerned over the sale of hooch and reiterated his party's demand for ending the nationalisation of liquor sales in the state as well as the implementation of prohibition.