Hooch toll rises to 22, raids on to smash liquor dens

Kolkata, Jan 5 (PTI) Death toll in the hooch tragedy shot
up to 22 with eight more persons collapsing in two hospitals
Monday, as the police continued raids in city's Hyde road and
Kidderpore areas under West Port police station areas here in
the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

Three more persons were still battling for life in
hospitals, Joint Commissioner of police (Admn) P Chatterjee
told PTI here.

Locals expressed fear that toll might mount as more sick
persons were still in their shanties with their relatives
providing cover against police raids.

Chatterjee said police raids were continuing in the two
areas since Sunday night and a number of country liquor dens
had been smashed.

So far five persons were arrested for involvement in the
liquor joints, police said. Sunday night, police said they
arrested seven persons, including those running liquor dens.

According to police sources, the officer in-charge of the
local police station has also been transferred.

The situation was reviewed at a high-level meeting in the
West Port police station by the city police Commissioner
Gautam Mohan Chakraborty along with DC (DD-I) Javed Shamim and
senior police officers Sunday night.

Chatterjee said that huge quantities of liquor bottles,
cans and bladders, suspected to be spurious, were seized in
the two areas and destroyed by the police with help of the
locals.

A large number of policemen were patrolling the two areas
in apprehension of breach of peace.

All the bodies have been identified and sent for post-
mortem before handing over to the relatives for funeral,
police said.

To create awareness among the residents against
mushrooming of liquor dens, a local Committee has been formed
at the instance of the police.

Since Sunday night, angry locals ransacked most of the
hutments and liquor dens being run by touts.

Broken and smashed liquor bottles littered large areas in
both Hyde Road and Kidderpore, as a stench filled the air.

Trinamool Congress (TC) Chief Mamata Banerjee visited the
sites Sunday night and demanded a judicial probe into the
tragedy.

She held the state government responsible for liberally
issuing liquor licences in the areas where the police-criminal
nexus exists.

TC has also announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 to the
family of each deceased.

An angry crowd of Trinamool activists gheraoed the West
Port police station demanding Police Commissioner's
resignation. PTI