In a concerning development, 17 people (while writing) died after consuming poisonous liquor in the Majitha area of Amritsar district in Punjab. All the people are admitted to the government hospital of Amritsar. The administration fears that the death toll may increase further. The deceased include people from 3 villages: Bhangali Kalan, Maradi Kalan, and Jayantipur. After the incident, the police and administration have come into action. The police have arrested 5 people on charges of selling poisonous liquor. They are being questioned as to where and how the poisonous liquor came from. This is the fourth such case in 3 years in Punjab.
Notably, in the year 2020, at least 100 people died in Punjab due to consuming spurious liquor. In the backdrop of the latest Majithia Hooch Tragedy, former Enforcement Directorate (ED) Deputy Director Niranjan Singh has unraveled the political and bureaucratic nexus in such cases.
Notably, Niranjan Singh was among the officials who had investigated the infamous 2020 illicit liquor disaster that claimed over 100 lives in Punjab’s Gurdaspur, Batala, and Tarn Taran districts.
Talking to True Scoop, Singh informed that his investigation in 2020 uncovered a powerful nexus involving senior politicians, bureaucrats, and police officials who were allegedly backing illegal liquor operations in the state. Singh had registered an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and sought FIRs and relevant documents from the Punjab government to support his probe.
Using both official channels and independent sources, Singh had discovered that at least 10 illegal liquor factories were operating in the affected districts. He claimed these factories were linked to high-profile leaders of the then-ruling Congress government. Top officials from Punjab Police and the Excise Department were also reportedly complicit in shielding the operations.
Singh further alleged that during the COVID-19 lockdown, legal distilleries, which were shut, diverted raw materials to illegal setups that produced Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) outside the legal framework. While this aspect was not directly tied to the deaths, it highlighted the extent of the illegal network.
He also accused former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of using political influence to derail the probe. The case was transferred to Delhi, and ED’s local investigation was effectively halted. “Had the investigation not been interfered with, tragedies like these could have been prevented,” Niranjan Singh said.
He emphasized the need to dismantle what he described as a “deep-rooted nexus” that enables the illegal liquor trade to thrive, putting lives at risk, particularly among economically weaker communities who cannot afford branded alcohol.