Aligarh hooch tragedy: Death toll reaches 36, UP govt sacks top excise officials

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday sacked top excise officials including state Excise Commissioner R. Guruprasad, following the Aligarh hooch tragedy that has claimed 36 lives so far.

Two senior excise officials, joint commissioner of Agra zone Ravi Shankar Pathak and deputy commissioner of Aligarh division OP Singh were also suspended in relation to the case.

At least 36 people have died and several others were taken ill after consuming spurious liquor in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district.

The health department confirmed the figure on Monday and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) BP Kalyani said that the death toll is expected to rise further.

According to Kalyani, a total of 71 bodies have arrived at the post-mortem house from Friday to Monday forenoon. Liquor poisoning has been confirmed as the cause of death for 36 of these people.

"Post-mortem examinations on more suspected hooch tragedy victims have been conducted. The final death figures will be given after a complete analysis, he said."

In light of the hooch tragedy, the administration also cancelled the registration of 16 liquor shops. Sub-divisional magistrate of Koli, Ranjeet Singh, said that compensation worth Rs 5 lakh each will be provided to the family of the deceased.

Four police officers, including Akrabad police station in-charge Rajat Kumar Sharma, Tappal police station in-charge Praveen Kumar Maan, Panethi chowki in-charge Siddhartha Kumar and Jattari chowk in-charge Shakti Rathi were suspended after the deaths came to light.