In Karunapuram village in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, men staggering around drunk is not an unusual sight. Meanwhile, last Tuesday, the daily routine of addiction claimed more than 55 lives and hospitalized more than 100, as bootleg liquor, a major source of the village’s underbelly, brought tragedy to the doorsteps of the poor and the poor.
Five people, including 48-year-old Kannukutty alias Govindaraj, have been arrested for allegedly selling the bootleg liquor that claimed so many lives. Govindaraj, who has been selling Patt Saraayam, a distilled liquor for 20 years, is well-known for selling counterfeit liquor in the area. Govindaraj’s wife and brother were arrested along with Chinnadurai, who allegedly supplied the spirit, and Mathesh, who the police say was the main culprit in producing the methanol. Despite running a business, Govindaraj, a heart patient, never drank the bootleg liquor he sold.
Panchayat Wards 7, 8 and 9 in Karunapuram, populated mostly by Scheduled Castes, bore the brunt of the tragedy, where 32 people died. Govindaraj’s godown is located in Ward 7, while his busy shop is in Ward 8.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Saturday, Balraj, a four-time volunteer counsel, said, “On Tuesday night, adulterated liquor was put on sale.” A top official who is part of the CB-CIT investigation said that Chinnadurai had allegedly insisted on selling the tainted spirit somehow.
Peak sales take place between 5am and 7am as cleaners and porters drink alcoholic beverages like morning tea to start their day. Gurumurthy, a flower shop worker who was a regular customer at Govindaraj’s shop, said, “If we have money, we buy bottles, illana packets (Tasmac bottles if we have money, otherwise (adulterated liquor) packets).”
By Wednesday, the consequences were already devastating. Two deaths had been reported earlier that morning, and when Balraj went to pay his respects, he began to unravel the tragic background.
‘Political pressure to minimize consequences’
“The first calls about the death came around 8.30-9 am,” said Balraj. “I went to see the victims, Suresh and Praveen, who had consumed packets of alcohol the previous night. Praveen was found on the road. I informed village panchayat officers and health department officials. Around 10 am, another casualty surfaced and Shekhar, a resident of the same area, was rushed to the hospital, but he lost his vision and died shortly,” said Balraj.
Kalyanasundaram’s mother and sisters are waiting for his body. He died on Saturday morning
As evidence of poisoning mounts, the transferred district collector issued a statement in the morning denying that illegal liquor was responsible for the deaths. Balraj said, “The collector’s refusal is shocking. “The assembly session was about to begin in Chennai; So it seems there was pressure to downplay the incident,” he said.
As time went by, more and more vulnerabilities were reported. Panchayat staff and police conducted house-to-house raids and tried to identify those who had consumed the deadly liquor. Many victims were reluctant to admit to drinking counterfeit alcohol. “It was like the whole village was drunk. We went door to door,” said Balraj. “At the end of the day, at least 50 people were sent to hospital through our door-to-door survey. Many more left on their own as their condition worsened,” Balraj said.
Delay and initial refusal had tragic consequences. “The Collector’s report misled many people,” said Balraj. “Those who had stock of liquor continued to drink it. By Wednesday evening, more than 12 people had died. Those who sought early medical help survived, but some lost their sight,” said Balraj.
“Despite regular police raids, they (those in the liquor business) were informed as always in advance,” said Balraj, who accused officials at the local police station of knowing about the sale activities but taking no action.
Bodies piled up, anger and questions piled up. The opposition A.DMK MLA M. Senthil Kumar has raised the Kallakurichi issue several times in the Assembly and in public meetings. As I am an opposition MLA, they ignored it. “The situation has become so bad that there are bootleggers on every street. What’s the point of doing all that now? No matter who it is, it’s a life. A poor man is very vulnerable. If you give them compensation of Rs 1 lakh or 10 lakh, they will be surprised that it is a huge amount. The government did not expect a tragedy of this magnitude, so the Collector initially tried to hide… Govindaraj was the only face of it. He used to pay everyone. “Government should take action against DMK leaders, MLAs and councilors who supported Govindaraj,” said MLA Senthilkumar.
DMK’s 8th ward councilor Vimala’s husband Vijay Manoj denied the allegations: “We warned them and complained, but they would close the shop and reopen it. We didn’t take any money.”
Desperate times, deadly measures
When The Indian Express met a dozen affected families in Karunapuram on Saturday, the entire village, previously numbed by drunkenness, was struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of the preventable tragedy. Families mourned the dead, while the living realized that the means of escape had turned in their favor.
Two months before the elections, the district police conducted a remarkable raid that almost stopped the flow of bootleg liquor from Vellimalai. “This crackdown pushed vendors like Govindaraj to more risky alternatives. Methanol, a cheap but dangerous alternative, was used as a substitute for conventional denatured alcohol. This combination went wrong and resulted in fatal consequences,” said a senior police official who had warned about it in the past two years.
The crackdown halted supply but not demand, forcing desperate sellers to resort to deadly measures. Govindaraj’s mixture requires a delicate balance, meaning that 25 liters of spirit must be mixed with six times as much hot water. But the deadly booze sold that night lacked this precision. It costs Rs.60 and comes in slim plastic bags tied with rope. Oblivious to the danger, regular customers lined up at Govindaraj’s shop early in the morning. Loaders and security workers, exhausted from their labors, sought solace in these pockets before dawn.
Govindaraj’s shop, in packets, 60 for Rs, Counterfeit liquor sold.
At 5 o’clock in the morning, there was a rush in the shop. Govindaraj’s customers, some buy multiple packets to drink throughout the day.
The Karunapuram tragedy is not just a story of drunken men but also a story of suffering women. Shankar, an auto driver, said: “Men work to earn money, women take care of the family.” Of those affected, 30% brought home only 25% of their earnings. The remaining 70% of their income is of no use to their families and they spend it all on liquor,” said Shankar of Jogiyar Street. Jogiyar Street was the worst affected area where 23 people died out of about 60 families living here.
Poisoning spared no one and killed five women. In a society where drinking is accepted, it is still taboo for women. Each family insisted that the dead women were not alcoholics. They claimed that these women drank by mistake when their husbands poured a glass of wine.
Both Suresh and Vadukarasi died at the age of 40, leaving their three minor children orphans. “My son was a painter and he used to drink a lot,” said his mother Rani. “He bought two packets, consumed one and poured the second packet into a glass. My daughter-in-law accidentally drank it. She died when she was brought to the hospital. Sureshum died an hour later,” said Rani. Their elder daughter Kokila says, “My parents wanted me to study engineering. They wanted to, but I wanted to be a dancer. Now that they are dead, I will become an engineer. He has two younger brothers, Harish and Raghavan.
Rajendran (60), who died on Thursday evening, bought two packets and kept them at home and drank them as usual on Wednesday. “He denied drinking when asked by the authorities,” said his wife Kolanji, a domestic worker. ”Unable to afford Tasmac bottles, they resort to bootleg liquor. Since Tasmac shops open only in the afternoon, they start buying packets in the morning,” said Kolanji.
Varamathi, a resident of Karunapuram Ward 7, said her husband Vijayakumar, a tea master, lost his eyesight. “He survived because they did dialysis. We have four children and I am running the family on my own,” said Varamathi.
Municipal sanitation worker Gajalakshmi said her husband survived as he had been ill for a week. “Otherwise, he would have been one of the victims. He doesn’t work, he drinks. If he works, he buys this Rs.60 packet and drinks it. I work and support the family,” said Gajalakshmi.
The tragedy also caused a bitter dispute between the families. One of the deaths led to a conflict between the victim’s first and second wives. Both claimed his body; The government is waiting for compensation claimants.
