CM Fadnavis orders probe
AMN /
The death toll due to spurious liquor in Mumbai’s Laxmi Nagar slum has gone up to 53 while 9 others still continue to battle for life in various hospitals. The death toll in this case is likely to rise as condition of some of the affected remain critical.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria informed that 8 policemen including the incharge of Malwani police station, senior Police Inspector Prakash Patil have been suspended for dereliction of duty.
Most of these victims include autorickshaw drivers, rag pickers and scrap collectors. All the affected are between 30 and 40 years of age and had consumed a concoction being sold in plastic bags at Laxmi Nagar slums in suburban Malad on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an enquiry into the tragedy and asked the Crime Branch to submit a report by Saturday. As of today, crime branch officials have sealed the room where the liquor was being sold and the house it was stored in. They are also trying to verify the total number of people who had consumed the illicit liquor.
Mumbai Police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni has informed that three people have been arrested in this regard. All of them have been booked under sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc. with intent to commit an offence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC. The accused have been identified as Raju Langda, Donald Robert Patel and Gautam Harte.