 (From top) Family members of two of the hooch victims mourn their death in Diamond Harbour on Wednesday; (bottom) a man who drank the illicit liquor being brought to the Diamond Harbour sub-divisional hospital. An ambulance from Calcutta police has been sent to bring people who need to be shifted to Calcutta.” Four persons have been arrested so far from Sangrampur on the charge of running illicit liquor dens, district police chief L.N. “The liquor pouches are brought in sacks to Diamond Harbour on trains and then ferried to the villages of Sangrampur and Mograhat,” a Sangrampur resident said. He said police were regularly bribed: "There is an officer nominated for collecting the bribe. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced compensation for the families of the victims, adding: "I want to take strong action against those manufacturing and selling illegal liquor."
– A bad batch of illegal liquor has killed at least 102 people in villages that fringe Calcutta. Dozens more are critically ill with alcohol poisoning. Traces of highly toxic methanol were found in the victims, who were mostly poor day laborers and rickshaw-pullers who bought the hooch in pouches for some 25 cents a liter, the BBC reports. Authorities demolished makeshift distilleries and bars after the deaths, and pledged to crack down on corrupt cops involved in the illegal liquor trade. "A section of low-ranking policemen may be involved. If we find that our men are in cahoots with those trading in illicit liquor, we will take action against them," a district police officer tells the Calcutta Telegraph. The deaths are the second tragedy to hit the Indian city in the space of a week. At least 91 people were killed in a hospital fire last Friday.