The toll in the Punjab spurious liquor tragedy rose to 86 on Saturday, PTI reported.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased. He also suspended seven excise and taxation officers, two deputy superintendents of police and four station house officers, according to ANI.
Till Friday night, 39 deaths had been reported from three districts, according to PTI. Nineteen deaths had been reported from Tarn Taran, 11 from Amritsar and nine from Batala. The toll in Tarn Taran is now 63. Twelve people have died in Amritsar and 11 deaths have been reported from Batala.
Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh told PTI that the maximum number of deaths were reported from the district’s Sadar and city areas.
Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq told the news agency that the families of some of the dead people refused to accept that they had died after consuming the liquor. “They are saying their family members died of heart attack,” he said.
On Friday, Chief Minister Singh had ordered a magisterial investigation into the incident. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar, along with the joint excise and taxation commissioner of Punjab and the police superintendent of the three districts were given the responsibility for the investigation.
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