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At least 25 people have died and about 50 others have been sickened by alcohol contaminated with methanol, authorities in western India said.
The deaths occurred in the cities of Ahmedabad and Botad in the Gujarat region, although the production, sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited there.
“There was more than 90 percent methanol in the drink consumed,” Bhavnagar Inspector General of Police Ashok Yadav told the local network The Times of India.
The authorities added that the owner of a chemical factory and eight associates were arrested for suspected illegal production of alcoholic beverages.
The death toll could still rise as patients continued to arrive at the hospital in Ahmedabad poisoned.
The Indian province of Gujarat has banned alcohol consumption since 1960 in tribute to India’s independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1948, but hundreds of people have died over the decades from illegally produced alcohol.
Reports say that the police turn a “blind eye” to illegal alcohol as they accept bribes from producers who sell contaminated alcohol in villages.
In 2019, at least 133 have died after drinking contaminated alcohol in two separate incidents in the northeastern state of Assam.
The victims mostly worked in tea plantations.
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