Gujarat minister says 8 dead after consuming spurious liquor; Surat man who fell ill after ‘drinking’ declared ‘brain dead’

IN THE first official statement by the Gujarat government on the issue, senior minister Jitu Vaghani confirmed on Friday that eight people had died after allegedly consuming methanol-laced liquor and that the police located 29 affected persons and placed them under medical care.

The Bhavnagar Police on Friday confirmed the eighth death in the methanol-laced liquor tragedy and identified the deceased as Sudhir Rawal. Meanwhile, in a Surat hospital, doctors declared 35-year-old Sanjay Dodiya, father of two young children, “brain dead” after battling for life following suspected consumption of the same liquor.

Dodiya, who is originally from Bhavnagar, is employed with an institution in Surat. He returned to Surat from Bhavnagar on August 17 after purportedly attending a gathering where the suspected spurious liquor was consumed. He was first admitted at a private hospital in Varachha and later shifted to INS hospital in Khatodara, where he was declared “brain dead” on Friday afternoon.

Khatodara police inspector N V Bharwad told The Indian Express, “We have sent our teams to INS hospital to talk to his family members. He had gone to Bhavnagar and fell ill after returning home to Surat.” According to family sources, Dodiya went to his hometown, Bhavnagar, on August 15, while his wife and two young children remained in Surat.