The death toll in hooch tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena climbed to 21 even as chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the removal of Morena district collector Anurag Verma and SP Anurag Sujaniya.
A sub-divisional police officer was suspended over dereliction of duty. The Bagchini police station in-charge and the district excise officer Javed Ahmad were also suspended.
The CM chaired a high-level meeting in Bhopal on Wednesday morning. It was decided to constitute a fact-finding committee and also identify the lapses which led to the tragedy.
The committee will comprise additional chief secretary (ACS-Home) and two senior police officers from the police headquarters who will visit Morena district to conduct a detailed inquiry.
As per reports, while five people are still in critical condition, 17 people are under treatment in Morena-Gwalior hospitals. While 17 people have been cremated, four are yet to be cremated. The unwell and sick victims of the tragedy are being looked after and health camps have been organised for them.
The accused are still absconding and the police have declared a reward of Rs 10,000 for nabbing each of the accused.
The range inspector general of police said that investigations are on to find whether the liquor was manufactured locally or whether it had been purchased from a liquor shop.