Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy: Death toll crosses 50, several remain under treatment
Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy: The death toll in the Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy has risen to 53, with many victims still receiving treatment at various hospitals, officials familiar with the situation said on Saturday.
On Friday, Chief Minister MK Stalin said in the State Assembly that 47 people died on 19 June after consuming methanol-laced poisonous illicit alcohol in Kallakurichi district.
The issue had roiled the state assembly, and the Madras High Court condemned the government. Members of the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) were evicted en masse from the assembly after staging a sit-in in protest of the tragedy.
“This issue cannot be taken lightly by the government. This is about the life of persons. We want to know what action was taken by the governor since last year, when a similar incident had taken place,” a high court division bench said. It scheduled a hearing on a public interest litigation filed by AIADMK legal wing secretary I S Inbadurai on June 26.
"A police station is 200 metres from the location where illicit liquor was being sold for the last three years," AIADMK leader and former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami told reporters. "Imagine the breakdown in governance here. The chief minister has to take responsibility and resign," he said.
Stalin, on the other hand, criticised the AIADMK for "drama" and the party's apparent intent to create confusion, and urged the opposition not to use the tragic incident for political gain.
- PTC NEWS
