14 dead in 2 hooch tragedies in UP, Yogi orders crackdown

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday ordered a crackdown on the illicit liquor mafia in the state after 14 reported deaths on account of spurious liquor consumption in Saharanpur and Kushinagar.

A state government spokesman said that Rs 2 lakh each would be given to the dependents of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to those taken ill after consuming the countrymade liquor.

Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Avaneesh Awasthi told IANS that nine deaths had been reported from Ataryasujan village in Kushinagar and five from Umahi village in Saharanpur. 

The Chief Minister, he added, had also ordered strict action against the local excise officials and a crackdown on the people behind the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor.

The Director General of Police (DGP) has also been asked to coordinate between the local police and the excise department to identify the hooch makers and act against them.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP was encouraging people to drink as it would bring in money in the name of cow cess and people, in absence of adequate knowledge, were consuming such liquor.

He also accused the state's BJP government of protecting and patronising the liquor mafia. -IANS