KOLKATA, India (AP) — Officials say 23 people have died after drinking bootleg liquor that sickened another 112 in a village in eastern India.
Police official Surajit Kar Purkayastha says four people have been arrested in connection with making and distributing the toxic booze, which is often spiked with chemicals to increase its potency.
He says people began falling ill after drinking the brew Tuesday night in the village of Sangrampur, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Kolkata. The sick were rushed to hospitals Wednesday.
Cheap bootleg liquor, which is often sold to slum-dwellers, kills dozens of people every year in India. In 2009, at least 112 people died from a toxic brew in Western India.
