Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP govt over hooch deaths in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday slammed the ruling BJP government in the state over the deaths of several people after consuming illicit liquor.

Hitting out at the Yogi Adityanath government, Yadav said, "Opposition has been notifying the government about such activities, but they didn't wake up as govt is also involved in it. Truth is that without government, such businesses can't be carried out. The government should accept that they can't run the state."

At least 56 people have lost their lives, so far, after consuming spurious liquor in Kushinagar and Saharanpur in the state.

Anand Kumar, Additional Director General, Uttar Pradesh said that 46 people have died in Saharanpur, while 10 people died in Kushinagar after consuming illegal liquor that was formulated from smuggled substances.

"Some people who went to Haridwar, consumed the illicit liquor and they distributed it to their relatives in Saharanpur when they returned to Uttar Pradesh," he had said.

Kumar pointed out that police suspect that spurious liquor was illegally brought from Kushinagar to Bihar. "The police and excise team across the state are running a coordinated search to track the culprits," he said on Saturday.

(With inputs from ANI)