At least 28 people have died and 60 more have fallen ill after drinking fake liquor in western India, officials say.
Government official Mukesh Parmar said the deaths occurred in the Ahmedabad and Butad districts of Gujarat, where the production, sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited. It was not immediately clear what chemical was used to make the adulterated liquor. Press Trust news agency of India reported that police have arrested several smugglers suspected of being involved in the sale of alcoholic beverages.
According to the Associated Press, death from adulterated alcohol is common in India, where these drinks are cheap and often mixed with chemicals like pesticides to increase effectiveness. Alcohol fraud has become a very lucrative industry across India, where smugglers pay no taxes and sell vast quantities of their products to the poor at low prices. In 2020, at least 120 people died after drinking adulterated alcohol in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
