Lucknow: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of hooch deaths in Etah and Farrukhabad districts of Uttar Pradesh and issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, asking them to file a report within four weeks.
An official release issued by the NHRC said it learnt that some Government employees including from the State Excise Department have been suspended following the incident.
Expressing concern over the loss of lives due to the consumption of spurious liquor, the Commission observed that the reported suspension of some public servants in the matter points towards negligence on the part of the official machinery which resulted in the tragedy.
Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police asking them to file a report in the matter within four weeks, the release said.
Huge quantity of illicit liquor and raw materials have been recovered from various places in Uttar Pradesh including Bareilly, Bijnor, Etah, Kanpur Dehat, Allahabad, Mau, Kushinagar and Sonbhadra districts, the release said.
Over 30 people have lost their lives in the hooch tragedy and over two dozen people were battling for life after consuming spurious liquor in Etah and Farrukhabad districts even as the authorities launched a crackdown on bootlegging, arresting 1,621 people across Uttar Pradesh. At least 11 government employees of excise and police department have been suspended.
