Police quoted villagers as saying the liquor was bought from authorised liquor outlet. (Representational)
Six people died and some others were taken ill in the Paharpur village of Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district after consuming liquor, allegedly bought from an authorised alcohol-vending shop, police said on Wednesday.
Following the incident, the authorities have ordered the suspension of a total of eight officials, including five policemen and three excise department officials of the districts.
District Magistrate Vaibhav Srivastava said people had consumed liquor after a programme in the village on Tuesday night and their condition deteriorated after that.
Lucknow's Commissioner Ranjan Kumar who reached the village on Wednesday said six people have lost their lives in the incident.
The villagers have said the liquor was purchased from an authorised liquor outlet, he added.
Those who consumed liquor were taken ill and started vomiting following which they were rushed to a nearby hospital, the Commissioner said, adding the liquor samples have been collected and an investigation has been started.
An FIR has been filed against the licence holder of the liquor shop, the Commissioner said, adding the excise inspector and workers of the shop have prima facie been found guilty of laxity and action will be taken against them.
Inspector-General of Police Laxmi Singh also rushed to the village and took stock of the situation.
Four of those who died have been identified as Paharpur village residents Sukhrani (65), Ramsumer (50) and Saroj (40), besides Bansi (55) of Pure Chatta village.
Some others who were taken ill after consuming liquor were admitted to a Community Health Centre.
Taking note of the incident, Station House Officer Narayan Kumar Kushwaha of Maharajganj police station, police outpost in-charge Raj Kumar along with constables Ratnesh Kumar Rai, Brajesh Kumar Yadav and Shivnarayan Pal of Raebareli Police were suspended, Additional Chief Secretary (Excise) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said in a statement.
Mr Bhoosreddy said Raebareli's Deputy Excise Officer Rajeshwar Maurya, Excise inspector Ajay Kumar and Excise Constable Dhirendra Srivastav too have been suspended after the incident.
An FIR will also be lodged under IPC sections 272 (adulteration of food and drink), 273 (sale of noxious food and drink), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) along with sections of Excise Act against those found involved in the incident, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)