Cured: The death toll in the Latha incident in Botad district is increasing. With two more deaths, the death toll has reached 30, while a total of 51 people are under treatment at Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad civil hospitals. 6 deaths have been reported in Ahmedabad rural area and 22 deaths have been reported in Botad district. Information about the other 2 deceased is not yet available. On the other hand, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi and State Police Chief Ashish Bhatia called the incident an incident of ‘misuse of chemicals’ and avoided mentioning ‘alcohol’. Even in the press note issued by the police, there is no mention of ‘alcohol’.
What is worth noting then is that the accused have been booked under Sections 302, 328, 120B of the IPC as well as Section-65A, 67(1) of the Prohibition Act.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Harsh Sanghvi tweeted that, ‘A committee consisting of high officials has been formed by the state government to conduct an intensive investigation into the incident of misuse of chemicals in Botad district. The said committee will conduct a detailed investigation of the incident on a war footing and hand over the entire report to the government.’
Then the state police chief Ashish Bhatia said in a press conference that yesterday afternoon we received information that 2-3 people have been admitted to the hospital in a critical condition in the rural area of Dhanduka in Ahmedabad. On the basis of which the police officers were sent for investigation. There he got information that people had drunk chemical. On further investigation, it was found that in many villages of Botad, people have consumed chemicals in this way. A crime has been registered within 24 hours. All the accused have rounded up and lodged an FIR. 460 liters of methyl alcohol has been seized. The report of the sample revealed that it was 99 percent methyl.
Ashish Bhatia said that this is an industrial chemical which is used in paint, plywood industries. The chemical was not mixed with alcohol, but was made by mixing an industrial solvent with water. Water was mixed with chemicals and drunk directly. They did not know that it is for industrial use. This is the result of misuse of industrial solvent.
Congress president Jagdish Thakore attacked the Gujarat government and said, ‘If the BJP government of Gujarat arrests people sitting on roofs with the help of drones in the society during the Corona period, then when drugs come to Gujarat, alcohol distilleries are running, why doesn’t your drone work there? ‘
If the Gujarat BJP government arrests people sitting on roofs with the help of drones in the society during the Corona period, then when drugs come to Gujarat, liquor breweries are running, why doesn’t your drone work there? @sanghaviharsh @BJP4Gujarat #Gujarat #Bhavnagar pic.twitter.com/ePqIAHa0zN
— Jagdish Thakor (@jagdishthakormp) July 26, 2022
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The prime accused Jayesh alias Raju Aslali works in a company called AMOS. He was in charge of godown in this company. Barrels of methyl alcohol are kept in the godown of this company. Jayesh’s cousin Sanjay is a resident of Nagoi. Both of them carried out the chemical scandal together. On 22nd, Jayesh stole 600 liters of chemical from the godown and sold it to Sanjay for 40 thousand. A total of 6 accused have been arrested in this case. Apart from local police, ATS and Ahmedabad crime branch team are also involved in the investigation of these incidents.
The FSL of this toxic chemical liquid is Analysis by Gandhinagar revealed the presence of methyl alcohol in total of 98.71%.
