The Madhya Pradesh government has constituted a five-member committee to investigate the deaths of 10 people after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Dewas district, officials said on Saturday. The panel has been directed to submit its report within 15 days.
The high-level inquiry was ordered by Ujjain Divisional Commissioner Ashish Singh following reports of 13 deaths allegedly linked to the consumption of spurious liquor in Chandana and Binjala villages of Dewas district between September 27 and October 16.
“Taking the seriousness of the matter following news reports, a thorough probe is essential. The detailed probe will cover the reasons behind the deaths over the last one month and all associated aspects. A five-member team of officials has been constituted to conduct a detailed and impartial inquiry. The factual report containing the findings will have to be submitted within 15 days,” the order signed by the Ujjain divisional commissioner on Saturday evening stated.
The committee will be headed by Ujjain Additional District Collector Pratap Kaushik. It will also include Mandsaur Additional Superintendent of Police Ramsnehi Mishra.
The other three members are the Divisional Officer of Police from Ratlam district, the Deputy Excise Commissioner of Ujjain division, and the Regional Director of Public Health and Family Welfare in Ujjain.
The formation of the inquiry panel comes amid conflicting claims over the cause of the deaths, with the Dewas district administration reportedly denying that they were caused by the consumption of spurious liquor.
“Liquor seized during the investigation was from licensed shops, and chemical tests and post-mortems did not confirm the presence of poison. No patient was admitted to any health centre or hospital in the district or nearby for cases of consumption of poisonous liquor, visual impairment, or poisoning,” the statement said.
“Two persons died of natural causes, three died due to old age and general health reasons, while one person died due to a brain haemorrhage. Two died due to accidental causes while working in the fields. The remaining two persons were already unwell and died due to pre-existing illnesses and deterioration of health due to excessive alcohol consumption,” the district administration added.
Earlier on Saturday, a Congress delegation led by state party chief Jitu Patwari and former Union minister and former Congress MP Arun Yadav visited Chandana village in Dewas district and met the families of the deceased.
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Patwari alleged that 22 people had died so far in the spurious liquor incident in Dewas district, calling it an extremely serious matter.
“The government and the district administration must publicly disclose the actual number of deaths, conduct an impartial investigation into the entire incident and ensure strict action against those responsible,” he said while interacting with the media.
He also pointed out that incidents involving spurious liquor in Morena, Ujjain, Sagar and Dewas had raised serious questions about the state’s excise administration and law-and-order situation.
Expressing concern over the incident, Patwari alleged that the investigation must not sidestep the main issues by blaming water or offering other explanations. He said the probe must establish the origin of the spurious liquor, identify those responsible for its supply and determine the level at which negligence occurred.