MULTAN, Sept 10: The death toll in the liquor case further increased to 42 with another two deaths on Friday. While police have failed to arrest the alleged bootlegger despite claiming that raids are being carried out to nab him.

The latest addition to the victims of poisonous liquor was Ikram of Pul Shawala and Gerard Masih of Grass Mandi areas of Multan. Both succumbed to the lethal drink after remaining hospitalized for several days.

The incidents of deaths due to the intake of tainted liquor had started pouring in from the districts of Multan and Muzaffargarh from Sept 3 last when some 24 people were reportedly fell victim to it.

Initially, the police arrested Nazar alias Naja on the report of two of the survivors that they bought the liquor from him. Naja informed the police during the interrogation that he was one of the distributors of Virgo Laboratories, owned by Israr Sherazi in the Multan industrial estate.

Later, the police registered nine cases under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act (1997) against Israr Sherazi and his three accomplices. A police source told that few months ago as many as 4,000 bottles of liquor were recovered from the laboratory of Israr Sherazi.