Editor's Pick | Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy toll rises; probe begins

The death toll in one of the worst-ever hooch tragedies reported in Tamil Nadu climbed to 39 on Thursday, with five more persons losing their lives at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district. While 34 victims had died by late Wednesday night after drinking hooch laced with methanol, the remaining died on Thursday. Methanol, also a form of alcohol, is added to the brew to increase its strength. It is a potent poison, and even in very small quantities, can cause liver failure, blindness, and death. The victims included four women and one transperson. In one house, three teenage siblings were orphaned by the tragedy. The toll is likely to go up with many victims undergoing treatment in serious condition. Of the total 120 persons admitted to government hospitals in Kallakurichi, Salem and Villupuram and at JIPMER in Puducherry, as many as 82 are currently undergoing treatment. Of them, 16 persons in JIPMER are critical. On Thursday, bodies were seen piled up next to one another on the Gomukhi riverbed ready to be cremated or buried, even as relatives prepared for the last rites, with the district administration making the arrangements. Amid calls from the Opposition for his resignation on moral grounds, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin constituted a one-man commission headed by Justice B. Gokuldas, former judge of the Madras High Court, to conduct a thorough inquiry into the deaths in Kallakurichi. The committee has been mandated to submit its report to the government within three months. The Crime Branch CID has begun its probe into the tragedy. The government also moved out Additional Director-General of Police (Enforcement Bureau CID) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal. On Friday, the Madras High Court will take up for hearing a plea seeking a CBI investigation into the incident. Several leaders visited the Government Kallakurichi Medical College and Hospital, where some of the victims are undergoing treatment. As the toll rose, anger was palpable in Karunapuram against the district administration and the police. Residents of Karunapuram alleged that illicit liquor had been thriving in the locality. The police did little to clamp down on the dealers, they said. The prime accused who supplied the killer brew was arrested on Thursday. Police said the accused, Chinnadurai of Sankarapuram, was arrested by a CB-CID team at Kadampuliyur in Cuddalore district. He is being brought to Kallakurichi for interrogation to identify the source of the brew. The police have already arrested bootlegger Govindaraj alias Kannukutty, his wife Vidya and brother Damodaran in connection with the incident. The spate of deaths has pushed many distraught families deeper into penury, as the killer brew claimed at least one breadwinner from every house in the locality. It is clear from the accounts of the affected families that the sale of illicit arrack has been rampant in the area. In an editorial, The Hindu pointed out that there were signs that industrial methanol was being diverted to the illicit brewing cottage industry, particularly after the hooch tragedy which claimed several lives in 2023 in Marakkanam and Madhuranthakam, also in north Tamil Nadu. Also, that the cost of the local moonshine was much lower than the price of alcohol in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) shops, pushing daily wage-earners with irregular incomes towards the local brew. The Prohibition Enforcement Wing of the Tamil Nadu police failed to pick up, and act on this, and “whatever is being done post-facto, is ultimately too little, too late.” The government needs to shut down the small-scale industry of illicit brewing in the State, and should also expressly work towards increasing public health awareness on the inherent dangers of drinking hooch, the editorial noted. The Hindu’s Editorials Killer moonshine: On the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi Move ahead: On GST and reform The Hindu’s Daily Quiz North and South Korea are technically at war as the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty. In which year did the conflict cease? 1964 1956 1953 1960 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 21 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 21 June 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy toll rises; probe begins [The death toll in one of the worst-ever hooch tragedies reported in Tamil Nadu climbed to 39 on Thursday, with five more persons losing their lives at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district](. While 34 victims had died by late Wednesday night after drinking hooch laced with methanol, the remaining died on Thursday. Methanol, also a form of alcohol, is added to the brew to increase its strength. [It is a potent poison, and even in very small quantities, can cause liver failure, blindness, and death](. The victims included four women and one transperson. In one house, three teenage siblings were orphaned by the tragedy. The toll is likely to go up with many victims undergoing treatment in serious condition. Of the total 120 persons admitted to government hospitals in Kallakurichi, Salem and Villupuram and at JIPMER in Puducherry, as many as 82 are currently undergoing treatment. Of them, 16 persons in JIPMER are critical. On Thursday, bodies were seen piled up next to one another on the Gomukhi riverbed ready to be cremated or buried, even as relatives prepared for the last rites, with the district administration making the arrangements. Amid calls from the Opposition for his resignation on moral grounds, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin constituted a one-man commission headed by Justice B. Gokuldas, former judge of the Madras High Court, to conduct a thorough inquiry into the deaths in Kallakurichi. The committee has been mandated to submit its report to the government within three months. The Crime Branch CID has begun its probe into the tragedy. The government also moved out Additional Director-General of Police (Enforcement Bureau CID) Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal. [On Friday, the Madras High Court will take up for hearing a plea seeking a CBI investigation into the incident](. Several leaders visited the Government Kallakurichi Medical College and Hospital, where some of the victims are undergoing treatment. As the toll rose, anger was palpable in Karunapuram against the district administration and the police. Residents of Karunapuram alleged that illicit liquor had been thriving in the locality. The police did little to clamp down on the dealers, they said. The prime accused who supplied the killer brew was arrested on Thursday. Police said the accused, Chinnadurai of Sankarapuram, was arrested by a CB-CID team at Kadampuliyur in Cuddalore district. He is being brought to Kallakurichi for interrogation to identify the source of the brew. The police have already arrested bootlegger Govindaraj alias Kannukutty, his wife Vidya and brother Damodaran in connection with the incident. [The spate of deaths has pushed many distraught families deeper into penury, as the killer brew claimed at least one breadwinner from every house in the locality]( It is clear from the accounts of the affected families that the sale of illicit arrack has been rampant in the area. [In an editorial]( The Hindu pointed out that there were signs that industrial methanol was being diverted to the illicit brewing cottage industry, particularly after the hooch tragedy which claimed several lives in 2023 in Marakkanam and Madhuranthakam, also in north Tamil Nadu. Also, that the cost of the local moonshine was much lower than the price of alcohol in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) shops, pushing daily wage-earners with irregular incomes towards the local brew. The Prohibition Enforcement Wing of the Tamil Nadu police failed to pick up, and act on this, and “whatever is being done post-facto, is ultimately too little, too late.” The government needs to shut down the small-scale industry of illicit brewing in the State, and should also expressly work towards increasing public health awareness on the inherent dangers of drinking hooch, the editorial noted. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Killer moonshine: On the hooch tragedy in KallakurichiÂ]( [Arrow][Move ahead: On GST and reform]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz North and South Korea are technically at war as the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty. In which year did the conflict cease? - 1964 - 1956 - 1953 - 1960 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Best Reads [[Arvind Kejriwal granted bail in Delhi Excise policy case] Arvind Kejriwal granted bail in Delhi Excise policy case]( [[Bhartruhari Mahtab appointed pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha] Bhartruhari Mahtab appointed pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha]( [[Watch: The fall of AIADMK | Focus Tamil Nadu] Watch: The fall of AIADMK | Focus Tamil Nadu]( [[Government to set up panel to suggest steps to improve NTA’s work] Government to set up panel to suggest steps to improve NTA’s work]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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