The defendants have already been arrested by the police. (File)
Chandigarh:
I haven’t been able to see properly since drinking dummy alcohol, says Tilak Raj, one of the survivors of the Punjab tragedy that killed 104 people until Sunday.
The tragedy has been unfolding since Wednesday evening and has left 75 dead in Tarn Taran in Punjab, 12 in Amritsar and 11 in Batala de Gurdaspur.
Tilak Raj, a contract employee at the Batala Municipal Company, says he felt uncomfortable after drinking dummy alcohol, which he had bought for 60 rupees from Triveni Chauhan and Darshana Rani, aka Faujan , outside the locality of Hathi Gate in Batala.
The two defendants have already been arrested by the police.
“After drinking it, I couldn’t see properly and I felt uncomfortable,” says Tilak Raj.
He survived because his family immediately took him to the doctor.
“Now I feel a little better but my vision has not improved and I feel dizzy,” says Tilak Raj, 50.
Another Batala survivor, Ajay Kumar, says he started to shiver after consuming fake alcohol.
“I still feel weak,” says Kumar, 32, who is admitted to the local civilian hospital. Kumar blamed Trivani and Darshana for providing fake liquor.
Many Batala residents have claimed that illicit alcoholic beverages are being sold openly in the town of Hathi Gate, but no action has been taken by the authorities.
Another survivor from Muchhal village in Amritsar said he felt uncomfortable after drinking fake alcohol. He said he couldn’t see properly after consuming it. According to a senior excise official, although chemical analysis reports of the material seized during the police raids are yet to come, a cursory check showed the material to be denatured alcohol, commonly used in the mining industry. paint or hardware.
Meanwhile, some families of the dead in Amritsar have flayed police for failing to take action against those engaged in the illegal alcohol trade.
Charan Kaur, who lost her 65-year-old husband to fake alcohol in Muchhal d’Amritsar, said defendant Balwinder Kaur had been selling alcohol for more than two decades in the village.
Whenever the police came, they would hide alcohol or throw it away, Balwinder Kaur said.
