2009 Gujarat hooch tragedy
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Gujarat hooch tragedy occurred in July 2009 in Gujarat, resulting in the death of 136 people from consumption of bootleg liquor.

Background

Gujarat had banned alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

 consumption since 1961 as a homage to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. However bootlegged alcohol, known as Hooch, is widely available, allegedly under the patronage of the local police. Gujarat has witnessed several occasions of alcohol poisoning, claiming the lives of more than 400 people after the ban was enforced. To counter the liquor mafia, the state government in 1996 formed the State Prohibition Department, which was dismantled in 2006 because of a shortage of police personnel. During the tenure of the department there were no incidents of alcohol poisoning in Gujarat. The revenue loss to Gujarat government because of the ban is estimated to be around Rs 30 Billion.

Alcohol poisoning

On 7 July 2009, ten people died in Behrampura after drinking spurious liquor. The liquor was brewed in the house of Arvind Solanki, who also died after consuming the liquor. The death toll rose to 43 next day and crossed 120 by July 12. 276 people were admitted in various hospitals with nearly 100 of them in intensive care units
Intensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...

. More than 1000 litres of hooch containing methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

 was brought to Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

 from Mohammadabad
Mohammadabad
Mohammadabad is a town and a nagar panchayat in Farrukhabad district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-Demographics:...

.

Reactions

After the incident, there had been demands for repealing the prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 of alcohol in the state. Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya is an Indian liquor and airline baron. The son of industrialist Vittal Mallya, he is the chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines. His United Spirits is world's second largest liquor maker, by volume...

, the chairman of United Breweries, criticised the Gujarat government. He claimed that "Blanket prohibition has never worked in this free world". The state assembly also witnessed scenes of uproar and demands for resignation of Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.He was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar; and is a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood, as also an active politician since early in life. He holds a masters degree in political...

, the chief minister of the state. The leader of opposition of Gujarat Assemby, Shaktisihn Gohil alleged that Rasik Paramar, a Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

 (BJP) councillor in the area was a key figure in the state's bootlegging network.

Following the tragedy, the police conducted more than 8000 raids in the state, book
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...

ing 6713 persons for violation of prohibition On July 14, the police announced that Vinod Chauhan, the prime accused had managed to slip out of Gujarat. The state government introduced a bill in the state Assembly to amend the Prohibition Law, calling for penal action up to death penalty for those convicted in spurious liquor cases.
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