Malvani hooch tragedy: They bought death for Rs 20

When they bought their regular supply at Raju Langda’s adda, the Malvani residents didn’t know they were buying their own death for as little as Rs 20 for 250 ml.

The hooch, that has killed as many as 82 people so far in this slum in Malad, a western suburb in Mumbai, was sold at cheap rates and in plastic pouches by Raju Langda, prime accused in the case for selling spurious liquor.  

On Wednesday, little did Mehmood Sheikh (45) know that his regular fix of haatbhatti wasn’t the same that he consumed on a daily basis. “He had three pouches there at the adda itself and brought this 250 ml pouch home. He was really drunk on Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, he complained of stomach pain and then started vomiting and fell unconscious. We rushed him to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali west, but he was declared dead by the doctors there,” says Tahira Sheikh, Mehmood’s widow.

Tahira says she doesn’t know how she will raise her three kids after her husband's death. But she has still kept the pouch not consumed by her husband, in the hope that it will help solve the mystery of Mehmood's death.

“I want this to be tested and analysed by the police. I am bringing this in front of the media first because I fear the police will never investigate and do the job properly,”says Tahira,

The deadly hooch has so far killed 82 persons in Malvani since Thursday, of the 120 persons who are suspected to have consumed the lethal concoction.

Meanwhile, four Excise Department employees Jagdish Deshmukh, Rajendra Salunkhe, Varsha Vengurlekar and Dhanaji Dalvi have been suspended for failing to do their job properly.

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