: At least three persons were killed and 23 others admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Kallakurichi on Wednesday after they reportedly consumed illicit arrack mixed with methanol and supplied in sachets at Karunapuram in the district, an official press release said. Several people from the locality were getting admitted to the hospital complaining of stomach pain and other symptoms and 18 of them had been shifted to JIPMER hospital in Puducherry for emergency treatment and six others transferred to Salem government hospital, the release said, adding that 26 persons were admitted to the Kallakurichi hospital and three of them died. The bootlegger Govindaraj alias Kannukutty, who sold the arrack, was arrested and 200 litres of illicit arrack was seized from him.
The liquor was sent to the regional forensic lab in Villupuram, where it was found that the arrack had been laced with methanol, which is a poisonous substance. Earlier in the day, the incident triggered a controversy following a denial from the district collector Sravan Kumar Jataveth, who was later transferred out, that it was not a hooch tragedy but a case of some persons afflicted with diarrhea and fits and the police saying that nothing could be said about the cause unless the post mortem report was received. A report was also circulated that the deaths were caused because the victims consumed methanol despite Leaders of Opposition Parties coming out with statements condoling those who died in th.