Punjab CM announces Rs 10 lakh relief for family of hooch victims 

Majitha (Amritsar), May 13 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said the state government would not spare anyone, however affluent he may be, involved in the heinous crime of sale of spurious liquor that led to the hooch tragedy in Amritsar district. 

Interacting with the media after sharing condolences with families of the tragedy, which claimed 17 lives, the Chief Minister said these deaths are not merely accidents but they are murders, which have been caused due to the greed of certain individuals, who are involved in this crime. 

He said that this is a clear murder and the state government will not allow the culprits to escape the severest of punishment. 

Mann said 17 lives have been lost due to the spurious liquor, and the people responsible for it deserve no mercy as they did this crime deliberately. 

The Chief Minister said this crime cannot be carried out without political patronage by the powerful politicians, adding that this angle is being probed by the police. 

Mann said 10 people, including the kingpin, have been arrested. The police have also identified the forward and backward linkages of the nexus involved in this crime. 

“Let me tell one thing very clearly, my government is firmly committed to ensure justice to the hapless families by ensuring exemplary punishment to the accused,” he said. 

The Chief Minister said the connections of this nexus have been traced up to Delhi, and every person involved in this crime will be put behind bars by the government. 

He said it has come into light that 600 litres of online methanol were ordered by the perpetrators of the tragedy, which was probably used for making spurious liquor. 

Mann said the police are looking into all the aspects of this tragedy to nail down the culprits and ensure exemplary punishment for them. 

The Chief Minister said the government has already suspended four officers, including one DSP, Station House Officer and two officers of the Excise Department, for their complacency in checking the sale and supply of spurious liquor. 

He said that though this deep-rooted nexus is very strong and has flexed its muscles due to open patronisation by the previous regimes, this liquor mafia will be eliminated from the state. 

Mann said that no one, whether a politician or a government servant, will be spared if they are found complicit in the hooch deaths. 

The Chief Minister said it is unfortunate that the hooch tragedy has snatched the lone breadearners of the hapless families. He said the pattern of deaths was the same as was in the hooch tragedy that took place in the year 2020 at Tarn Taran.