Ahmedabad: In an unusual appeal in Gujarat, where liquor is prohibited, police have asked residents to destroy — rather than consume — bottles bearing a particular batch number after toxic liquor consumed in Bhavnagar’s Vartej area left nine people dead and around 25 critically ill.Police circulated photographs of the suspected liquor bottle and sticker and asked anyone possessing a bottle carrying batch number 8901522000665 to immediately destroy it. “Those who may have consumed liquor from bottles bearing the same sticker have been asked to undergo a medical check-up at the nearest hospital,” the appeal circulated states.The appeal specifically asks people to check the barcode and number printed below it. The warning also highlights the difficulty of policing illicit liquor in a dry state, where consumers may obtain alcohol through illegal channels. Police said liquor legally available to permit holders through licensed outlets carries different batch identification numbers.The case has now been handed over to State Monitoring Cell (SMC), which has launched a wider investigation into the manufacture and distribution of the spurious liquor.According to SMC, its teams have so far arrested 14 accused allegedly involved in the racket. Police said they recovered duplicate liquor bottles and material allegedly used to manufacture the spurious liquor, including chemicals, colouring agents, stickers, caps, sticker rolls and cardboard packaging.Investigators found that some of the material had allegedly been sourced through transporters from different parts of the country. Teams have been sent to various locations in Gujarat and other states to trace suspects who remain at large and others whose involvement emerged during the investigation.Nearly 20 people are currently either under detention or house arrest in connection with the case, police said.A police complaint on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with other sections of the BNS, has been registered in the case against 21 people.
