LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Another 10 people have died in hospitals after drinking toxic bootleg liquor in northern India, police said Sunday, raising the death toll to 42 in the past three days. Another 40 people are being treated in hospitals.
Police arrested 32 people for illegally brewing and selling the toxic drink to villagers, who were celebrating the Hindu "Dussehra" festival in the Azamgarh district last week, Sharma said. The region is 300 kilometers (185 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital. Deaths from drinking illegally brewed alcohol are common in India because the poor cannot afford licensed liquor.
Illicit liquor is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency.