More than 60 die after drinking bootleg alcohol in Indian Punjab

SPS Parmar, Inspector General of Police (IG), border range.

Punjab Police speak to media in Tarn Taran district on Saturday after dozens of people died from poisoned alcohol.

Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh told PTI that the maximum number of deaths were reported from the district's Sadar and city areas. Initially, 21 deaths were reported.

DGP Punjab Police Dinkar Gupta said that there will likely be more arrests, adding that the police teams would continue to crack down on all those involved in the case to unravel the extent of the spurious liquor mafia operating in the region. Seven more people have subsequently been arrested, ANI reported.

"The police had also recovered illicit liquor", the sources added.

Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq informed that police had arrested five persons, including two women Faujan and Trivani, the later runs a youtube news channel.

On Saturday, police carried out more than 100 raids, confiscating supplies of the suspected liquor and making 25 arrests.

"The wards of some of those who died are not accepting that they died because of spurious liquor. They are saying their family member died of heart attack", said the DC.

It will be conducted by the divisional commissioner along with the Punjab Joint Excise and Taxation Commissioner and the SP (Investigation) in districts concerned.

MLA, Jandiala, Sukhvinder Singh Danny also met the relatives of the deceased and those under treatment in a hospital.

Those who died in Batala have been identified as Buta Ram, Bhinda, Riku Singh, Kala, Kalu, Billa and Jatinder. Both of them blamed the Congress government for allegedly sheltering the bootleggers.

The chief minister has ordered the Jalandhar divisional commissioner to conduct the magisterial inquiry into the deaths.

Apart from Tarn Taran, the authorities had reported 11 casualties in Amritsar and nine in Gurdaspur's Batala since Wednesday night.

"Cases under section 302 IPC should be registered against those found responsible for the deaths", they demanded.