At least 11 people have died and another eight to 10 have been hospitalised after consuming spurious liquor in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh, NDTV reported. The area station house officer has been suspended over the incident.

“Eleven people from Morena’s Manpur Prithwi and Pahawali villages have died so far,” Inspector General of the Chambal Range Manoj Sinha said. “We are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the actual cause of deaths.”

Morena Superintendent of Police Anurag Sujania said that they have arrested one person in connection with the case and have registered a first information report against seven people, according to ANI.

The inspector general of Chambal Range said that the police were making efforts to track down the source of the liquor – a distillery or local manufacturing unit. The police were also trying to find out the other villages where the liquor may have been supplied, he said.

“We’re trying to prevent further distribution and sale of the same liquor by tracking and arresting the suspects as early as possible,” the police officer added.

A few people from the Manpur Prithwi village had fallen ill after consuming the liquor on Sunday. The number of those who fell sick rose on Monday after people from neighbouring Pahawali village started showing signs of alcohol poisoning.

Those affected were taken to the Morena district hospital. After this, they were referred to a bigger hospital in the Gwalior district as their condition deteriorated.

State Home Minister Narottam Mishra expressed sadness at the incident. “Station house officer has been suspended immediately,” he said. “Senior officials have reached the site. A team will investigate the matter. Accused won’t be spared.”

This is not the first such incident in the state. In October, over 11 people had died after consuming illicit liquor in Ujjain. Two police constables among others were arrested over the incident. In May, four people had died and two others fell ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Ratlam district.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, four people had died in November because of the consumption of spurious liquor. Similarly in Punjab, at least 86 died owing to the same reasons.

During the countrywide lockdown when the sale of liquor was prohibited, many in Bhopal and Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district had resorted to consuming hand sanitisers.