Four dead, 8 critical after consuming spurious liquor in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar

Four people have died and 18 others are hospitalized, with eight in critical condition, after consuming counterfeit liquor illegally imported from Madhya Pradesh, authorities in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district reported. Four bootleggers have been arrested, and the victims ingested duplicate liquor of a popular Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brand.

Alcohol is banned in the state, which officially remains a dry region. The first fatality was recorded on Tuesday evening, another on the same night, and two additional deaths occurred on Wednesday. District Collector Manish Kumar Bansal stated that the contaminated liquor affected at least 22 individuals. Three confirmed deaths belong to Kartik Makwana (40), Upendra Gohil (25), and Ghanshyamsinh Jadeja (50).

The postmortem and toxicology reports of the fourth victim, identified as Narendra Yadav, are pending. All deceased are residents of Bhavnagar district. Of the 18 hospitalized individuals, two remain in critical condition, four are in the Intensive Care Unit, two are receiving ventilator support, and the remaining ten are stable.

Bansal received information around 6 pm on Tuesday about a group of four individuals falling ill after consuming illicit liquor during a party in Kharkadi village, Ghogha taluka, on August 16. The collector informed that one victim from Surat was under treatment, while a person from Jamnagar is asymptomatic. Senior government doctors have been deployed at private hospitals for oversight, and a nephrology team from Ahmedabad's Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) is en route to provide expert assistance.

The initial incident occurred at a party in Kharakadi village on Sunday afternoon, and the same batch of counterfeit liquor was allegedly distributed across at least two talukas — Ghogha and Bhavnagar. Four bootleggers suspected of trafficking the illicit liquor from Madhya Pradesh to Bhavnagar were detained. Superintendent of Police Nitesh Pandey stated that the deaths were primarily caused by consuming counterfeit IMFL liquor.

The main suspect, Gautam Solanki, had brought the liquor and distributed it to other bootleggers in his network, who then sold it to others. Pandey said that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is analyzing samples from the bottles, and the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) is conducting further examinations. An FIR has been filed at Vartej police station based on a complaint from Inspector SB Padheriya, covering culpable homicide, causing hurt with poison or adulterated food/drinks, selling counterfeit goods, and violating the Prohibition Act.

The investigation is probing the origin of the spurious liquor, with police in Madhya Pradesh collaborating to trace the source from the Ujjain-Indore-Guna belt. The Gujarat government deployed the State Monitoring Cell to aid the investigation, with SMC chief SP Mayur Chavda visiting Bhavnagar on Tuesday night to meet with Pandey and Range IG R V Asari.