At least six people have died supposedly after consuming toxic liquor in Jhikargacha upazila of Jessore in the last 24 hours.
The deceased are Habil Gazi, 60, Faruk Hossain, 40, Asmat Ali, 50, Hamidur Rahman, 55, Khoka, 55, and Narayan, 55, residents of different villages of the upazila.
The six men allegedly fell critically ill after consuming liquor from a local youth named Mintu, a resident of Pundarpur, on Monday and died while undergoing treatment at the Jessore General Hospital between Monday and Tuesday, claimed another patient of the hospital, who took the same liquor with them that night.
Seeking anonymity, the patient also alleged that the hospital has provided manipulated death certificates that falsely claimed the six died of heart failures following requests from the deceaseds’ families.
Asked about the contradictory statements, Jhikargacha police station OC Md Abdur Razzak said: “We had reached out to each of the deceased’s families, but all of them claimed that they died of heart failures.
“As they showed us certificates from the hospitals confirming the same, we cannot take action against the seller of the liquor store nor can we comment on the matter.”
