Police says 39 people have died and another 27 fallen sick after drinking spurious liquor containing toxic methanol in several villages in northern India.

INDIA, Feb 9: The death toll from drinking cheap spurious alcohol in several villages in the northern India has risen, with at least 39 people dead and another 27 fallen sick.

Senior police officer Ashok Kumar said 26 died in two separate incidents in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, while 13 others died in the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand.

The majority of the deaths were reported from the village of Balpur in Uttarakhand.

Kumar said victims consumed liquor during two functions on Thursday night, adding that the post-mortem and initial forensic reports suggested that the brew was laced with methanol.

Police have arrested eight suspected bootleggers while the provincial governments have suspended 35 officials including 12 police.

An average of 1000 people, mostly from poorer sections of society, die in India each year after consuming illegally-brewed alcohol, according to National Crime Records Bureau.

The liquor is usually made with poor-quality ingredients, and sometimes mixed with industrial alcohol and toxic substances to increase potency.

In some of the worst cases of such poisoning, 200 people died in 1992 in Odisha state, 180 in West Bengal in 2011 and 100 in the city of Mumbai in 2015.

 
• India
 
• alcohol
 
• methanol