Four die after consuming liquor laced with poison

On Sunday afternoon, a group of friends had bought liquor from shop no 11851 in Lingapuram colony. Thereafter, they went to Sirukulam Kanmoi and consumed it. Within a few minutes, one Ganesan (21) puked and fainted at the spot.

Immediately, his brother Sakthivel was informed and he rushed to the spot. Before he could reach, three more fainted and all four were rushed to a nearby private hospital. However, doctors at the private hospital had asked Sakthivel to take them to Sivakasi government hospital.

Immediately, all four were rushed to the Sivakasi hospital, where Ganesan, Ibrahim Shah (22) and Gowtham (15) died. Also, Ayyappan (22), Janarthanan (14), Saravana Kumar (23) were rushed to the Madurai government hospital. Another person, Antony (22), too had fainted and was hospitalised. Also, Murugan (27), brother of Ayyappan, fainted in his house and was found dead.

Meanwhile, Raja Mohammed (60), Karuppiah (62), Sivakumar (28), and Karuppasamy (33), who too had consumed liquor in another shop (number 11848), located in Parasakthi nagar, fainted and were admitted in Sivakasi hospital. The two incidents triggered tension in Sivakasi town and both the liquor shops were shut down.

Thereafter, Shanmuga Rajeswaran, IG (South Zone), and Virudhunagar SP Rajarajan visited Sivakasi hospital. Rajeswaran said that the inspection of one deceased’s vomit revealed that pesticide was mixed with the liquor. Few others who had consumed liquor with them had absconded and they are suspected to have mixed poison in the liquor, said the IG. He said that seven special teams had been formed to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, the kin of the deceased staged protest in front of Sivakasi hospital and raised suspicion in the deaths. They demanded the arrest of the accused and refused to accept the bodies.