Spurious toddy claims three lives in 5 days

Adilabad: Three persons were killed and four others were hospitalised after consuming adulterated toddy in the district in the past five days. According to the sources, the deceased were Boddupalli Venkatesh (35) of Peddanapalli area in Bellampalli town, Pulaveni Bakkaiah (35) of Chakpalli village and Padigela Naveen (18) from Manjulapur village of Nirmal mandal. There is a huge gap between demand and supply of toddy in the district giving scope for adulteration of natural toddy.

Some people allege that Excise officials are not taking any measure to control manufacture and sale of spurious toddy despite rising incidents of deaths at different places in the district due to consumption of spurious toddy and liquor. There are a number of toddy outlets, which are being run without licenses, in Mandamarri, Ramakrishnapur, Mancherial, Srirampur and Bellampalli areas.

The toddy traders are reportedly using chemicals such as chloral hydrate, chloroform and alprazolam in the production of spurious toddy. The people are demanding the Excise Department officials to act tough against the toddy traders and to initiate strict measures to check the sale of adulterated toddy.