Gujarat minister says 8 dead after consuming spurious liquor; Surat man who fell ill after ‘drinking’ declared ‘brain dead’

Khatodara police inspector N V Bharwad told The Indian Express, “We have sent our teams to INS hospital to talk to his family members. He had gone to Bhavnagar and fell ill after returning home to Surat.”

According to family sources, Dodiya went to his hometown, Bhavnagar, on August 15, while his wife and two young children remained in Surat. “On August 17, after reaching home, he faced health complications and his wife took him to a private hospital. She also called up Sanjay’s elder brother Rajesh Dodiya, who resides in Vadodara, and requested him to come to Surat,” said the sources.

Rajesh Dodiya told The Indian Express on Friday, “When Sanjay reached home on August 17, he seemed inebriated. He was under treatment in a private hospital at Varachha for a couple of days. There was no improvement in his health and his condition deteriorated, following which we took suggestions from our relatives in Surat and shifted him to INS Hospital, Khatodara.”

Rajesh Dodiya added, “Sanjay frequently visited Bhavnagar for social and religious events and meeting his friends.” A doctor this newspaper spoke to at the INS hospital said, “Sanjay Dodiya was on ventilator support since Wednesday and on Friday afternoon, his condition worsened and he was declared brain dead.”

Rajesh Dodiya said , “We will talk to the doctors and then decide future steps… whether to donate the organs…”

Vaghani, who is also the state government spokesperson, visited the Bhavnagar Civil Hospital on Friday, three days after the liquor tragedy came to light, and met patients and condoled deaths of victims from consuming the Methanol-laced liquor.

A Gujarat government statement on Friday said that Vaghani “expressed deep sorrow and offered condolences on behalf of the state government regarding the death of eight people in the tragic incident of adulterated liquor in Bhavnagar district.”

Vaghani was quoted as saying, “In this difficult hour, the state government stands with the families of the deceased with full sympathy. The state government has taken the entire incident very seriously and clear instructions have been given to take strict action against those responsible.”

Among the deceased is a school teacher, Hitesh Parmar, whose body was allegedly found slumped beside his bed, near a bottle of the spurious brew, and the body of the alleged brewer Narendra Singh Yadav, who is from Madhya Pradesh.

On Thursday, the State Monitoring Cell on Thursday warned the public against bottles of a whisky brand with a particular barcode, a move seen as ironic since the state is under prohibition since 1960.

The State Monitoring Cell (SMC), Gujarat’s specialised agency to implement prohibition, found in its investigation that the victims drank from bottles with a common barcode: 8901522000665. This barcode was printed on bottles of the IMFL – Indian-Made Foreign Liquor – seized and found to contain contaminated liquor.

Vaghani said that as soon as the incident was reported, the police department took immediate action on the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister Harshabhai Sanghvi. “The police and the administration took prompt action to locate the affected people and shift them to the hospital, get them medically examined and provide them with necessary treatment,” he said

Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi, who handles the home portfolio, is yet to issue a statement on the matter. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is in the US on a business tour.

The government statement, quoting Vaghani, said, “Currently, 19 people are under treatment, while 16 people have been discharged after treatment. The police have located 29 people and provided them with medical examination and necessary treatment. Offences have been registered against 21 accused, of whom 13 accused have been arrested. Based on the police investigation, the remand of the accused has been obtained. The accused, including the main conspirator, have also been arrested and other crimes have also been registered against some of the accused.”

Vaghani pointed out that after police “negligence” came to light in the preliminary investigation into the incident, a total of seven police personnel, including two inspectors, were suspended from service.

1 more held, 14th arrest in case

Meanwhile, the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) that is handling the investigation, arrested one Md Raees, who was apprehended in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and brought to Bhavnagar. On Friday, he was presented before a local court that granted nine days’ remand to the SMC, confirmed an investigator.

This is the 14th arrest in the case. The FIR registered at Vartej police station lists a total of 21 accused, of whom Narendrasinh Yadav alias ‘Doctor’, who is believed to have brewed the drink that caused the tragedy, died on August 18, with six accused yet to be arrested.