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Punjab CM meets kin of hooch tragedy victims in Tarn Taran

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday morning met the family members of the hooch tragedy victims in Tarn Taran. He also announced an increase in the ex gratia relief from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh.

He was accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta, chief principal secretary to chief minister (CPSCM) Suresh Kumar and local politicians.

The death toll in the hooch tragedy had risen to 121 with 92 deaths reported from Tarn Taran, 14 from Amritsar district and 15 from Batala.

Timeline of the case

July 31: CM orders magisterial inquiry by divisional commissioner Jalandhar into the       suspicious deaths of 21 people, allegedly due to consumption of spurious liquor, in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran
-Police arrest Balwinder Kaur, a resident of Muchhal, under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), section 61/1/14 of the Excise Act

August 1: Death toll rises to 86
-Capt suspends seven excise officials and six policemen
-Amarinder Singh announces a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the victims

August 2: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal asks Punjab government to handover the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying the state police has been not able to crack the cases
-Punjab police arrests 17 more people after conducting more than 100 raids in Tarn Taran, Amritsar Rural and Gurdaspur (Batala). The total arrests go up to 25.August 5: DGP Dinkar Gupta orders constitution of 2 special investigation teams (SITs) to fast-track probe, which will be supervised by ADGP (law and force) Ishwar Singh
-Tragedy toll stands at 113