Bhadrak: Yet another man has been arrested in connection with Bhadrak hooch tragedy taking the number of arrested so far to four.
The accused has been identified as Prabhat Tripathy of Pirahat village. He was allegedly involved in distribution of the spurious liquor to supporters of a political party who fell sick en masse after consuming the drink.
Spurious foreign liquor worth Rs10 lakh had allegedly been brought from Balasore to Doulatpur and Chandbali areas.
“We have information that people in Daulatapur and another village under Tihidi police station limits had bought the liquor from a local market for a post-election feast,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Umakanta Moharana said.
Meanwhile, local police said that the main accused is still on the run and a manhunt has been launched to nab him.
Excise secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal said a joint probe is being conducted by revenue, health, excise and police departments.
“As the incident took place on a polling day after voting was over, we are taking the matter seriously,” he added.
It may be worth mentioning here that, at least nine people died and over 60 others fell sick after consuming contaminated liquor in a ‘post-election feast’ organized in Doulatpur panchayat under Tihidi police limits of Bhadrak district.
Some of the affected people have lost their eyesight.
The tragedy struck late Monday night, a few hours after polling for the fourth and final phase of elections in the state. Locals claimed that the victims had bought the liquor with the money provided to them by political parties before the polls.
The deceased included Sadhu Nayak (45), Shankarshan Das (55), Ramachandra Padhiary (52), Baidhar Nayak (42) and Shankarshan Parida (45) from Daulatpur area. Those who died in Chandbali were Manoj Mohanty (36), Krushna Chandra Nayak (40), Harihara Jena (40) and Debendra Panda (52).
It was said around 40 people were taken to the district headquarters hospital in Bhadrak after they fell sick. Angry over the incident, villagers had blocked the Bhadrak-Chandabali road causing massive traffic snarls on the thoroughfare.