MULTAN, Nov 6: The death of over two dozen people after taking toxic liquor in Multan and some other parts of south Punjab on Eidul Fitr is not a new phenomenon. It is a festive occasion like Eid when this issue surfaces as scores of people lose their lives and others hospitalised.

Doctors say one or two casualties that occur every month go un-notice as relatives hide them from media and police. That’s why no data is available to show how many people die each year from this menace.

The unchecked sale of toxic liquor is a big question mark on the working of the health and excise departments besides police as those involved in the business of preparing and marketing the `poison’ are seldom punished.

Remorseful is also the attitude of representatives of people in Multan and other districts who have never bothered to take up the issue at the national level.

Although liquor is a banned item for Muslims in the country, imported and locally-made alcohol can be acquired from the black market. Foreigners and non-Muslims can get it on permits from hotels and other places. Except for the mountaineering, trekking and scientific expeditions, the import of liquor is entirely banned.

The poor segments of society, because of high cost of imported and locally-made testified liquor, buy two types of cheap liquor available in the local market. Most of the people use alcohol and spirit if they fail to get `kuppi’ from medical and homeopathic stores where it is offered for sale as medicine.

For centuries, the people of rural areas have been preparing `desi sharab’ and `thurra’ which are now being sold in polythene bags and bottles. Each polythene bag full of liquor is available for Rs100 while each bottle is sold for Rs200.

Scores of factories in rural and urban areas of Multan prepare `kuppi’ with the second-rated ingredients throughout the year. Ethanol, the main ingredient of `kuppi’, is a raw shape of alcohol produced from molasses. The ratio of ethanol in molasses is 12 to 14 per cent.

There is no check on the movement of molasses from sugar mills and anybody can get it easily.

Some sugar mills have their own distillation plants and they are preparing ethanol while medical laboratories are also a major consumer of molasses.

In the past, a medical laboratory had been working in Multan with the name of Virgo Pharma. Its owner Israr Shirazi was involved in preparing `kuppi’ in his unit. The license of his factory was cancelled after the death of some 70 people after consuming toxic liquor in Multan and Muzaffargarh districts in 2004. At least eight cases had been registered in different police stations against the factory owner.

Bootleggers were rounded up and some of them disclosed that they had purchased the liquor from the men of Shirazi. They had alleged that he ran a methylated spirit unit at the industrial estate in Multan.

An ATC judge had issued warrants for the arrest of Shirazi, also a circus owner, his son Khurram and servant Mubarak, but the police failed to arrest them.

Reportedly, accused Israr Shirazi was patronised by some police officers who managed his patch-up with heirs of the deceased. Consequently, he was released on bail.

Shirazi established another factory in Balochistan and all the machinery of the sealed Virgo Pharma was shifted secretly to Loralai. Later, a case was registered against unidentified thieves on the report of Shirazi.

The local court had cancelled his bail when Multan police sent a letter to the Balochistan government for the cancellation of the license of an alcohol factory owned by Israr Shirazi.

Multan DPO Muneer Ahmed Chishti claimed that the police had taken strict action against bootleggers and seized a huge quantity of liquor from factories after recent deaths.

EDO (Excise) Abdul Allah Khan said that the government had withdrawn all excise officers from sugar mills after protest by millowners.

He said the excise department did not have sufficient staff and equipment and that we were not allowed even to investigate the matter. He alleged that bootleggers in connivance with the police and the anti-corruption department had managed their release.