Four die after consuming hooch in Pratapgarh, SHO suspended

PRAYAGRAJ: At least four men, including two brothers, died in the past 24 hours at Katria village in Udaypur police station area of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh after consuming spurious liquor.
The deceased were identified as Siddhnath Kori (70) of Raki village, Pradeep (35) and his elder brother Dilip (50) of Katria village, and Ram Kumar Prajapati (45) of Aahar Beehar village.
Two others were also rushed to hospital after their condition deteriorated overnight most likely due to consumption of the spurious liquor.
The sudden deaths in the region caught the local administration off guard initially and senior police officials, including ADG (Prayagraj zone) rushed to ground zero in Katria village on Wednesday morning to take stock of the situation.
Police said Dilip Kori, his younger brother Pradeep Kori and their maternal uncle Siddhnath fell ill and their condition started deteriorating at around 9.30 pm on Tuesday night. Their family members rushed them to the nearest community health centre.
In the meantime, Ram Kumar Prajapati also fell ill at Ahar Beehar village following which his family members rushed him to the Sangipur community health centre.
The doctors pronounced Pradeep dead and referred the three others to district hospital in Pratapgarh but their families took them to different hospitals where they too succumbed late on Tuesday night.
Superintendent of police, Pratapgarh, Akash Tomar placed station house officer, Udaypur, R K Prajapati under suspension for dereliction of duty and ordered a probe into the incident.
Inspector general of police, Prayagraj range, K P Singh told TOI, “A detailed investigation has started after four persons, including two brothers, died after consuming spurious liquor.”
“Two joint teams of police and excise department have been constituted to find out from where they had purchased the liquor,” he added.
Police are also checking whether they had got liquor from any panchayat election contestant or supporter.
The families were initially not willing for the postmortem of the bodies but senior police officials convinced them to agree for it.