Three persons died due to consumption of suspected spurious liquor in Madhya Pradesh. (Representational)
A police station in-charge and an assistant sub-inspector were suspended after three persons died due to consumption of suspected spurious liquor in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday.
The casualties took place in Khakhrai village under Piplia Mandi police station limits on Saturday and Sunday, while officials said the exact cause of the deaths would be known only after the post-mortem reports are received.
Three people have died, three are undergoing treatment and one person has been discharged after recovery, Narottam Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.
"The police station in-charge of the area and an assistant sub-inspector have been suspended," he said, adding that the district collector has already placed a sub-inspector of the excise department under suspension.
Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary in an order issued on Sunday night said Piplia Mandi police station in-charge Shiv Kumar Yadav and assistant sub-inspector Ramlal Dading were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.
These officials failed to control liquor smuggling in the area, the order said.
The Superintendent of Police in his order also said the liquor was purchased from a grocery shop of one Gajendra Singh, who was selling it illegally in Khakhrai and has been arrested.
One of the persons who consumed the liquor died on Saturday night and his family members cremated the body the same day without informing the police, while two others died the next day when they were being taken for treatment to Mandsaur, the official said in the order.
Meanwhile, the Sub-Divisional Officer of Police Trilokchand Pawar said the postmortem of the two victims would be conducted again by a panel of doctors on Monday.
He said the accused grocery shop owner was being questioned in connection with the liquor smuggling network.