Summary:
Superintendent of Police (SP), Kushinagar, Rajeev Mishra said police arrested one Rajendra Jaiswal after he confessed to have supplied spurious liquor to victims. He denied involvement of Dudhnath in the incident and claimed one of the victims, Ram Vriksha, had sold spurious liquor to victims after purchasing it from the Bihar bootlegger, Rajendra Jaiswal. However, additional commissioner (excise) O P Arya said in Kushinagar hooch was being smuggled from bordering Bihar while in Saharanpur all victims had gone to Haridwar on Mauni Amavasiya and consumed liquor there. Another local resident, Sugriv, said his father Awadh Nishad also took ill after consuming liquor sold by Dudhnath and later died. At least, four others are undergoing treatment at a district hospital and they admitted buying liquor from a local vendor at a village fair on banks of the Gandak..