Punjab hooch tragedy:CM Amarinder Singh announces Rs 2 lakhs ex-gratia for kin of deceased

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced Rs 2-lakh compensation each to the families of the deceased in the hooch tragedy that claimed at least 86 lives. During the 13th edition of the Facebook Live of #AskCaptain interaction, the Chief Minister announced the suspension of ETOs (Excise & Taxation Officers), Lovejinder Brar, from Gurdaspur, BS Chahal from Amritsar and Madhur Bhatia from Tarn Taran.

The Excise & Taxation Inspectors (ETIs) who have been suspended with immediate effect are Ravi Kumar (Gurdaspur), Gurdeep Singh (Amritsar) and Pukhraj from Fatehabad and Hitesh Prabhakar from City Tarn Taran in district Tarn Taran. The Chief Minister also ordered the suspension of and inquiry against seven excise and taxation officers and inspectors, along with two DSPs and four SHOs of police in connection with the hooch tragedy, which has so far claimed 86 lives, as per an official statement of the Punjab government.

Most of the deceased are from Tarn Taran, which accounts for 63 deaths, followed by Amritsar Rural at 12 and Gurdaspur (Batala) at 11. As the death toll in the hooch tragedy rose to 86, Punjab Police arrested 17 more people in a "massive crackdown" spanning more than 100 raids.

READ: Punjab hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 39, two more arrested

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Twenty-one people have died in Punjab's three districts allegedly after drinking spurious liquor, prompting Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to order a magisterial probe, officials said on Friday.

The deaths took place in Punjab’s Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran districts since Wednesday night, an official statement said.

Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta said the first five fatalities were reported from Mucchal and Tangra villages in Amritsar’s Tarsikka on July 29 night.

On Thursday evening, two more people died under suspicious circumstances at Amritsar’s Muchhal village. One person died at Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital in Amritsar after being shifted from Tangra.

READ: 21 die after drinking spurious liquor in Punjab, CM orders magisterial probe

READ: Death toll in Punjab spurious liquor rises to 62