At least 28 people have died and 60 others have become ill from drinking spiked alcohol with methanol in western India.
There was 98 percent methanol in the liquor they consumed, that means they had consumed methanol only which has increased the death toll,’ Bhavnagar Ashok Yadav, inspector general of police, told The Times of India.
The deaths occurred in the Ahmedabad and Botad districts of Gujarat state, where the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol is prohibited.
The Ahmedabad city crime department has arrested chemical owner Jayesh Khavadiya from Narol and his eight accomplices over suspected bootlegging.
The death toll is expected to increase further after several patients arrived at Ahmedabad civil hospital for treatment.
Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in India, where illicit liquor is cheap and often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency.
