Over 1000 litres of illicit liquor seized in Prayagraj division, 200 people arrested

PRAYAGRAJ, March 23 (HS): Perturbed over back to back hooch tragedies in districts under Prayagraj division including Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Chitrakoot and Handia block, the joint teams of police and excise officials have initiated crackdown on hooch trade and several raids have been conducted in the trans-Ganga and Yamuna ahead of the festival of Holi and upcoming panchayat polls in the state. The teams have seized nearly 1000 litre of illicit liquor and raw material in huge quantities. Moreover, nearly 200 people have been arrested. The agricultural fields are used to store raw material and to prepare illicit liquor by hooch manufacturers.

The police teams conducted raids recently in Soraon, Mauaima, Holagarh, Saidabad, Meja, Manda, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur and Chitrakoot.  IG, Prayagraj range, K P Singh while speaking to HS said, “An intensive crackdown has been launched in Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur districts against mafia involved in illegal hooch trade. Our joint teams have seized over 1000 litre of spurious liquor and arrested over 200 persons involved in the illicit manufacturing and trade in the past fortnight.”

Another official who did not wish to reveal his identity said some families in remote villages engage in hooch trade in festive seasons and during elections. They also set up units on riverbanks for manufacturing spurious liquor. “Due to their greed for profits when demand is high, hooch manufactures use raw material like methanol which can be deadly and can cause blindness, severe burning in stomach and can be fatal,” said a senior excise official. They also add zinc, carbon, rectified spirit and other harmful chemicals to make it strong, he added.

Usually, spurious liquor is made using jaggery, alum, ammonium chloride and essence.

Instead of ethyl alcohol, methanol is used to add punch to the country-made liquor which often proves fatal. Methanol affects lungs, heart, eyes, liver and kidney. It also causes paralysis of muscles due to acidosis. The teams also destroyed over 7,000 kg raw material and scores of furnaces during the drive. The hooch traders dig pits in the field and hide raw materials and Lahan in them.

Meanwhile, the death toll due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor in Chitrakoot village rose to seven, while eight people are still undergoing treatment at SRN Hospital in Prayagraj. Chunna (45) of Bhadedu village and Jainarayan (45) of Devari village in Chitrakoot, who were undergoing treatment at Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital in Prayagraj, died taking the number of dead to seven. “Eight villagers from Khopa, Bhadedu and Devari are undergoing treatment in Allahabad,” Additional Superintendent of Police Shailendra Kumar Rai said.

He added that Sitaram (60) died on Saturday, Munna Singh (40) on Sunday morning at Rajapur, Satyam (22) and Durvijay Singh (32) in Kaushambi on way to Allahabad for treatment, and Babli Singh (38) died during treatment in Prayagraj, late on Sunday night.