21 lives, not 42, lost in Sonepat: Inquiry panel

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, November 13

A special committee headed by Sonepat Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Munish Sharma has concluded that 21 people, and not 42 as confirmed by several sources, lost their lives after drinking spurious liquor in Sonepat district.

He submitted the report to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shyam Lal Poonia on Thursday. Earlier, the Sonepat administration had claimed that only 12 people had died after consuming spurious liquor.

In all, 50 lives, including eight in Panipat, have been lost because of illicit liquor.

The DC told The Tribune that the committee divided the deaths into three categories — first, persons whose postmortem was conducted; second, those who were admitted to hospital but their postmortem was not conducted; and third, those who were not admitted to hospital but their families claimed they died after drinking spurious liquor.

"The report classifies 12 deaths in the first category, five in the second and four in the third," the DC said, adding that "the families of 12 persons, whose deaths have been classified in the first category, are eligible for Rs 2 lakh financial assistance announced by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar".

"The decision to provide nine other bereaved families with relief rests with the government. The district administration has sought the opinion of the authorities in this regard," Poonia added.

ENA supplier held

• Panipat: The Sonepat police on Friday nabbed a man for allegedly supplying extra neutral alcohol (ENA) to illegal liquor manufacturers in Kharkhoda, which was unearthed on Thursday last week.
• The accused has been identified as Pradeep of Charkhi Dadri's Jewali village. He was living in Gurugram.
• The police had earlier arrested Mohit of Thana Kalan village and Ankit of Khanda village for allegedly making spurious liquor in the Kharkhoda factory
• SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said Pradeep, his accomplice Sandeep (who is on the run), Mohit and Ankit were into the illegal liquor manufacturing trade
• "The police are conducting raids to nab Sandeep.
• The ENA supply chain will be disclosed after his arrest," the SP added.

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