Bhadrak: Panic gripped Odisha’s Bhadrak district as five persons died and more than 28 persons were taken seriously ill after allegedly consuming spurious country liquor at Nimei Sahi village in Tihidi block late on Monday.
According to sources, some people of Nimei Sahi village consumed country liquor on Monday night after the polling got over. Three among them fell unconscious. While one of them passed away in the village later, two persons died at the community health centre (CHC) at Tihidi late in the night.
The deceased have been identified as Rama Chandra Padhiary, Sadhu Charan Nayak, Sarbeswar Das and Shankarsan Parida while the identity of another deceased was not immediately known.
Of the 15 persons who had fallen ill, three have been identified as Kuna Jena, Baidhar Nayak and Shankar Das. They have been shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, in a critical condition.
Alleging medical negligence, family members of the two deceased and the villagers staged a blockade on Tihidi-Chandbali road on Tuesday morning disrupting vehicular traffic for more than two hours.
Till reports last came in, district collector Gyana Das and senior police officials had rushed to the spot to pacify the people.
As informed by the district collector, a special team of doctors from Bhubaneswar is also on the way to Bhadrak.