Aligarh hooch tragedy: 22 dead, more still critical after consuming spurious liquor; five arrested

The death toll in the Aligarh hooch tragedy went up to 22 on Saturday, while 28 more people are still in critical condition, an official said in Aligarh. Seven people have died since Friday night, he said and added that the condition of 28 people undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, AMU, and the Malkhan Singh District Hospital are critical. Locals fear the death toll can rise further as reports from several villages are still trickling in. On Friday, Additional District Magistrate (Finance) Vidhan Jaiswal said 15 people had died in villages falling under three separate police stations – Lodha, Khair and Jawan. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani told newspersons on Saturday that five people have been arrested so far, including Anil Chaudhary, the alleged kingpin of the spurious liquor racket. The police have booked 12 people in three different cases till now. Several raids were carried out in various parts of the district throughout the night and are still continuing. A reward of Rs 50,000 each has been announced on the arrest of Rishi Sharma and Vipin Yadav, associates of Anil Chaudhary, the SSP said.