Nine people have died, over the last two days, after allegedly consuming an alcohol-based homeopathy medicine as a substitute for alcohol in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district. Senior police official Prashant Agrawal confirmed that the deaths were reported from Kormi village under Sirgitti police station area.
“Prima facie, it seems like the deceased consumed Drosera-30, a homeopathy syrup with about 90% alcohol content, in excess as a substitute for liquor,” he told reporters. “However, the exact cause of deaths will be known once the post mortem report is available.” Agrawal said a case has been registered and further investigation is underway.
Senior police official Umesh Kashyap highlight that of the nine victims, four died at home late on Tuesday night, one on Wednesday morning, while three others died at hospitals on Wednesday night. He said another person died at the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS), Bilaspur on Thursday morning.
“Suspecting that they had died of COVID-19, their families performed last rites the next morning without informing the authorities,” Kashyap said. “Later another person who had consumed the same medicine died in the village. On being alerted about the deaths, a police team rushed to the village on Wednesday evening, and shifted others who had consumed the syrup and were in critical condition to hospitals in Bilaspur.”
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Three died during treatment on Wednesday night and another succumbed on Thursday morning. Six are undergoing treatment at CIMS and another private hospital. The police believe they had procured the medicine from a homeopathy practitioner in the area. A health camp has also been set up in the village for medical check-up of the villagers.
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