Berhampur: The death toll in Chikiti hooch tragedy rose to five with the death of one more person who was undergoing treatment at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Pradeep Behera of Jenapur village, said sources adding that his body will be handed over to his family members after postmortem.
This is the third death of the tragedy in the last three days that took place in the State government-run hospital. While one Baya Sethi of Karabalua village died yesterday, another man named Lakshman Behera had succumbed on Saturday.
Notably, over 25 people were taken ill at Chikiti Maundpur village of Ganjam district after consuming spurious liquor. Till date, four people Jura Behera, Lokanath Behera, Laxman Behera and Baya Sethi succumbed, while three more people are still undergoing treatment at the State Government-run hospital in Berhampur.
Taking a serious note of the incident, the Excise department and police swung into action and have arrested a total of 16 people so far and forwarded them to the court. They also confiscated a huge cache of spurious liquor.