Ujjain hooch tragedy: Viscera report confirms presence of methanol, ethanol

Ujjain Superintendent of Police Satyendra Kumar Shukla informed that the viscera reports of the 12 persons who died after consuming spurious liquor last week, have confirmed the presence of ethanol and methanol.

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh):The viscera reports of the 12 deceased in the Ujjain Hooch have confirmed the presence of ethanol and methanol, police said on Wednesday.

Ujjain Superintendent of Police Satyendra Kumar Shukla informed that the viscera report has confirmed the presence of ethanol and methanol in all the 12 samples of the deceased.

Meanwhile, the police is reportedly investigating the source from where the accused obtained spirit and other chemicals to make the methanol.

According to reports, Methanol has a high toxicity in humans. As little as 10 ml of pure methanol when drunk is metabolized into formic acid, which can cause permanent blindness.

As many as 12 people, mostly beggars or poor labourers, had died after consuming spurious liquor in Ujjain last week following which the chief minister ordered a high-level probe into the incident.

Read:Spurious liquor claims lives in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain

The police said that earlier 14 deaths were reported in the incident, but after the post-mortem report, the number of fatalities due to the consumption of spurious liquor was revised to 12.

The liquor the victims allegedly drank was made from "ginger-tincture", an anti-freeze industrial chemical which contains methanol, officials said.

Meanwhile, the District Superintendent of Police and another police official were transferred to Bhopal, while two constables were arrested for their alleged involvement in its sale.

The move to shunt out Ujjain District SP Manoj Singh and Additional SP Rupesh Dwivedi came after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took a serious view of the incident during a review meeting.

Satyendra Kumar Shukla replaced Singh as the Ujjain SP.

(With inputs from agencies)