By IANS,
Bangalore/Hosur (Tamil Nadu) : At least 25 people died, five of them in Bangalore, after consuming spurious liquor in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Sunday, police said.
Five people, including a woman, died in D.G. Halli in Bangalore late Sunday evening while 12 lost their lives in Kolar district, 68 km from Bangalore, and another eight in neighbouring Tamil Nadu earlier in the day.
Over 30 people have been admitted two hospitals in Bangalore in serious condition, police said.
They said around 8.30 p.m. several people bought liquor from a sell-and-scoot operator in D.G. Halli and fell sick immediately after consuming it.
Relatives and neighbours rushed them to the government-run Bowring hospital and a private hospital.
Five died almost immediately after taking the liquor and more than 30 were in a serious condition, police said.
Earlier in the day five people died in Narasapur village and another five in Teykal village in Kolar district and eight, including three women, died in Tamil Nadu’s Anaikaal village, bordering Karnataka.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the deaths in Kolar, district police said.
Narasapura residents blocked roads in the area, alleging failure on the part of authorities to check manufacture and supply of spurious liquor. Kolar police superintendent Seemant Kumar Singh visited the spot and pacified the protesters by promising them action to curb sale of spurious liquor.
Dalit residents of Tamil Nadu’s Anaikaal village consumed liquor in the early hours Sunday during the 13th-day rituals of a funeral.
Three died after consuming what is suspected to be poisonous rectified spirit. Soon five others succumbed to the intoxicant, said S. Nagarajan, the revenue officer in charge of Krishnagiri district.
An investigation headed by superintendent of police P.C. Thenmozhi has been ordered, the official added.
The remaining spurious liquor was seized and sent for examination. The condition of three people, including a woman, was serious, the official said.