KARACHI, Oct 19: Poisonous liquor claimed another six lives on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 12 during the last 48 hours.

Police and hospital sources said six more bodies were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Four of them — Malik Nazir, 25, son of Allah Ditta, Abdul Qadir, 35, son of Latif, Muhammad Saeed, 35, son of Elahi Bakhsh, and Muhammad Umar, 35 — were residents of Chanesar Goth. The other two — Samson, son of Sunil, and Peter, son of Sunil — lived in the KMC compound within the remit of the Frere police station.

Police, quoting hospital sources, said 13 people who had also consumed toxic liquor had been admitted to the JPMC in a serious condition.

They said two teams conducted several raids to arrest the suppliers of the poisonous liquor.

On Tuesday, six people died and another one lost his eyesight after consuming toxic liquor in Baakri Mohallah near Hindu Para in Chanesar Goth, which falls within the remit of the Tipu Sultan police.

The additional SHO of the Tipu Sultan police station confirmed the six more deaths.

In a late night raid on a distillery in the Chanesar Goth area, police arrested three suspects and seized equipment.

In most of the deaths, relatives have not allowed legal formalities to be carried out by the police and took away the bodies.

Police said a case (FIR 213/11) was registered at the Tipu Sultan police station on a complaint of Sub-Inspector Amin against Bashir alias Nana, Mohammad Baloch, Irfan alias Jabal, Badshah and others for their alleged involvement in the manufacture and sale of the toxic liquor.

Earlier on Tuesday, the SHO of the Tipu Sultan police station was suspended following the deaths.

In September 2007 in a similar incident more than 30 people had died in different parts of the city after consuming toxic liquor.

With a considerable number of persons still suffering from the symptoms of consuming the tainted liquor, there are fears that the death toll might rise, hospital sources said.