Mumbai: The death toll in the Mumbai hooch tragedy – the worst such in 11 years in Maharashtra – shot up to 94 on Sunday, police said.
Police said so around 45 more are under treatment in various government and private hospitals since the past four days.
These people had consumed liquor at a country liquor bar in Malwani on Wednesday night.
The Crime Branch, which is probing the incident, has launched a manhunt across Mumbai and its surroundings for at least four bootleggers who are said to be the kingpins of the illicit liquor trade.
Police have so far nabbed around 20 people in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, Mumbai police have launched a house-to-house search in the Laxmi Nagar slum and other areas to ascertain if anybody had visited or bought liquor from there and consumed it.
At least eight such people were detected on Sunday and were taken to hospitals.
In December, 2004, 87 people have died in two such incidents in Mumbai.
This is the worst hooch tragedy in the city since December 2005 when 87 people lost their lives due to consumption of spurious liquor.
Eight personnel attached to Malwani police station had been suspended after the incident.
The Excise Department had earlier suspended four of its officials in connection with the incident for incompetence and dereliction of duty, State Excise Department Commissioner Shyamsundar Shinde said.
The Excise department in the last one year had registered 117 cases of distribution of hooch in Malwani.
Antop Hill police on Saturday raided an illegal shop in Sion-Koliwada Area and seized 40 liters of illicit liquor.
“We had information of illicit liquor being sold in the area. So we raided the shop and seized the liquor,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Ashok Dudhe said.
Keywords: Mumbai hooch toll, Malvani hooch tragedy, Vikhroli