New Delhi: Gujarat Opposition has demanded Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation over the hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad in which at least 76 people have been killed.
Even though one of accused in the case, Harishankar Kahar alias Hari Om, was arrested on Wednesday night but the Opposition created a ruckus in the Assembly demanding that both Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah quit taking responsibility for the tragedy.
However, senior police officials admit that the main accused in the case was still absconding.
The death toll in the tragedy rose to 76 with 28 more people succumbing to the spurious liquor on Thursday. At least 207 people are still in hospital out of which 50 are in a serious condition.
"Post-mortem of 50 people who died has been done. Efforts are being made to save people and 207 people have been admitted," said Gujarat Health Commissioner Amarjeet Singh.
People from different parts of the city like Odhav, Amraiwadi, Raipur, Rakhial and other areas are still admitted in hospitals.
Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala said that raids were being carried out all over the state to catch suspected bootleggers and unearth spurious liquor.
The police claimed that over 100 bootleggers have arrested since Wednesday in the crackdown on spurious liquor vends.
In Surat, angry residents of the city came out on the streets protesting the hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad
“Country made liquor is a problem and we are against it,” Surat Superintendent of Police Kesari Singh Bhati said adding that many bootleggers have been arrested in the city.
Most of the victims were daily wage labourers who lived in Ahmedabad's slums in Odhav and Majoor Gam.
Turning the heat of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the, the Congress has called for a bandh in Odhav, which has been the worst affected area.
There were sporadic protests on Thursday morning with people taking to the streets demanding a crack down on illegal liquor dens and Modi's resignation.
“The police take bribe and they know the whereabouts of all the illicit liquor shops. The police take bribe and see so many people are dying,” said one of protester in Ahmedabad.
“If you try and raise your voice against the police you will have to face the brunt of it. Gandhi and Gujarat both are lost now,” said another protester.
One policeman was injured in Odhav during the protests.
The state government has already set up an inquiry committee headed by a retired High Court judge Justice Kamal Mehta.
Two police inspectors and one deputy superintendent of police (DSP) posted at Kagdapith police station were suspended on Wednesday.
The suspended police inspectors were RG Patel and AA Pathan, while the DSP was GL Khunti,
The Assistance Commissioner of Police of Odhav area has also been transferred.
Gujarat has seen at least four major hooch tragedies in the last three decades. The first was in the Sarangpur Daulatkhana locality of Ahmedabad in 1977, in which 101 people lost their lives and another 215 were taken ill.
In 1989 a major tragedy in Vadodara claimed 132 lives and affected 200 others while a year later in Sutrapada in Junagadh district 17 people died and 115 others were hospitalised.
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