2 days on, cops collect samples of chemicals from Panipat sugar mill
Mukesh Tandon
Panipat, November 23
Two days have passed since the hooch tragedy in Haryana claimed four lives, but the police are yet to find out from where the deceased got the liquor they had consumed.
The police have collected five samples of various chemicals from the Panipat Cooperative Sugar Mill and the hooch sample from the house of one of the deceased in Shamri village of Sonepat. The samples have been sent to the forensic science laboratory at Madhuban in Karnal.
Liquor deaths
No distillery at mill
We’re not manufacturing liquor… there is no distillery in the mill. Navdeep Singh, MD, Sugar mill
Awaiting sample report
It will be clear only after the FSL report whether the deceased consumed some chemical or hooch. Panipat SP
Police sources said there would be some clarity only after the lab reports were out. The police are also awaiting the viscera report of the deceased. Deceased Ajay and Sunil of Shamri village in Sonepat and Anil of Burshyam village in Panipat were all employed with the Panipat mill as sanitation workers. This mill, incidentally, does not have a distillery.
The three were carrying a 2-litre soft drink bottle filled with liquor on Sunday. They first consumed the liquor with their friend Narender in Burshyam and then Ajay and Sunil left for their village Shamri, where they drank the remaining liquor with Surender and other friends.
Ajay, Sunil, Anil and Surender died on Monday while four others were hospitalised. The Gohana Sadar police (Sonepat) as well as the Samalkha police (Panipat) have filed separate cases in the matter.
Shashank Kumar Sawan, Superintendent of Police, Panipat, said samples had been collected by the police from the sugar mill and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madhuban.
“It is not yet clear from where the deceased got the liquor, as those who had bought the liquor have died,” he said.
Besides, it will be clear only after the forensic report whether they consumed some chemical or hooch, SP Sawan added.
