Thaindian News

Kolkata, Dec 15 (IANS) The hooch tragedy that has claimed 128 lives in West Bengal so far has turned into a political issue, with state Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee Thursday accusing opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists of mixing “chemical in the liquor” to embarrass his government.

The CPI-M countered by challenging the government to prove its allegation and demanded a judicial probe into the “callousness” of the administration in treatment of the victims.

“The members of CPI-M are behind it. They have hatched the plot and carried out this heinous crime of mixing chemicals in the liquor to kill people. They want to embarrass the government,” said Chatterjee while addressing reporters here.

State leader of the opposition Surya Kanta Mishra was quick to react and challenged the state government to prove that CPI-M was behind it.

“If they have honesty then let them prove it. They are running the government. Earlier also they had made such allegations,” Mishra said.

CPI-M state committee member and former MP Sujon Chakraborty described the allegation as the “biggest joke of the year”.

“It’s a most callous administration. There was no arrangement for treatment of the hooch victims. They started the treatment late. No standard treatment protocol was followed. The seriously ill should have been shifted to Kolkata hospitals in time. It’s a scam.”

“Let there be a judicial probe,” he said.

In less than a week, West Bengal suffered another major blow as 128 people, mostly masons, labourers and hawkers, died and over 100 were hospitalised after consuming spurious liquor in drinking dens at Sangrampur village of South Parganas district.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered a Criminal Investigation Department probe into the liquor deaths, one of the worst such tragedies in India in recent times.

The victims had Tuesday night visited some illegal liquor dens near Sangrampur railway station.