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INDIA-COURT
4 people get life term for 2011 illicit liquor tragedy in India
NEW DELHI, Sept. 29, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – A court in the eastern Indian
state of West Bengal has sentenced four people to life in jail for their role
in an illicit liquor tragedy that claimed as many as 172 lives in 2011.
The court in the South 24 Parganas district pronounced the quantum of
sentence Friday, a day after convicting the four in the case. However, the
court set free six other accused in the case for want of evidence.
“All the four now have the right to move a higher court,” a lawyer said
Saturday.
Some 172 people died and several others were rendered blind after consuming
toxic alcohol at Sangrampur in South 24 Parganas district in December 2011.
Illegal alcohol costs very little and the majority of the consumers are
poor daily-wage workers. But deaths from illicit alcohol are not uncommon in
India, as these often become toxic due to use of sub-standard items for its
preparation.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1315 hrs