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ShareAhmedabad, Ahmedabad: The toll in the three-day-old Ahmedabad hooch tragedy rose to 107 on Thursday, after more deaths were reported from Odhav and Amraiwadi areas of the city. The toll could go up further since many of the over 50 people under treatment in various hospitals are reported to be serious, police said. After the tragedy unfolded in Majoor Gam on Tuesday, people from different parts of the city, mainly Odhav, Amraiwadi, Raipur and Rakhial, continue to be admitted in hospitals.
The uproar
Residents of affected areas took to the streets demanding stern action against bootleggers. Angry crowds pelted stones at police, injuring a sub-inspector. Eleven people were detained for the violence. CM Narendra Modi and minister of state for home Amit Shah came under attack for the second day in the state assembly on Thursday. Leader of the opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said, "A BJP corporator was the main supplier of the killer brew. Shah has misled the House by saying it all started at a party in Majoor Gam on Sunday night. The truth is, spurious liquor was supplied to around 14 places."
The action
Following the protests, police launched a crackdown, rounding up over 300 bootleggers and sealing scores of illicit liquor dens across Gujarat. They claimed to have arrested the key suspect, Harishankar Kahar alias Hariom, who allegedly supplied spurious liquor to Majoor Gam and Odhav areas where most deaths have occurred. However, Kahar, a resident of Odhav, has not yet revealed the original supplier of the killer brew, which remains a mystery," a senior crime branch officer said. He claimed "raids conducted at Kahar's den on Wednesday night resulted in the seizure of hundreds of litres of country liquor." Six policemen, including two DySPs and four inspectors, have been suspended and transferred. Minister Shah has announced the formation of a four-member inquiry commission headed by retired high court judge Kamal Mehta. The report has to be submitted by November 30, 2009.
