The official death toll in the hooch tragedy in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district reached 13 after two more people succumbed on Monday (September 7, 2026), even as State Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged that the number was more than 50 after he visited the affected villages.The police, meanwhile, continued its crackdown in the case and has so far arrested 14 people linked to the network of spurious liquor, allegedly supplied from Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur, officers said.Sagar Collector Pratibha Pal has also ordered a magisterial inquiry led by a sub-divisional magistrate into the matter to ascertain the circumstances that led to the deaths as well as the production and sale of the spurious liquor. The government has also announced a compensation of ₹4 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.Earlier on the intervening night of September 5 and 6, several people from multiple villages in Sagar’s Banda and Shahgarh subdivisions fell ill with vomit, fainting and seizures due to consumption of spurious liquor, officials have said.Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla, who has been deployed in Sagar, said on Monday that two more people passed away during treatment while more than 50 people are now out of danger.Three in critical condition“Three people are still critical and efforts are under way to save them. Ten people, small retail vendors who sell liquor in villages, were arrested [on Monday] and they are being interrogated. Very soon, we will reach the bottom of this and end it from the root,” he said.Sagar district PRO Soumya Samaiya told The Hindu that 92 people were still under treatment, including 65 at Bundelkhand Medical College, 17 at the District Hospital and 10 at Civil Hospital, Banda.“Medical teams are still deployed in the affected villages and screenings are being conducted to check if more people are showing any symptoms,” she said, while denying local reports that are claiming a higher death toll.30 persons bookedEarlier on Monday (September 7), the police booked 30 people in two separate cases under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 105, 123 and 3(5), and provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Excise Act, 1915.Pradeep Valmiki, sub-divisional police officer (SDOP), Banda, told The Hindu that four more people have been arrested from various villages, while more raids are being conducted to reach the people involved in the network of spurious liquor sale.“All 14 people arrested so far are local vendors who sell liquor in villages at unauthorised shops. We have produced them before a court and secured their police remand. We are continuously interrogating them to find out the supply chain,” he said, adding that the police are yet to reach the manufacturers “who are suspected to be from Lalitpur”.Mr. Valmiki also said that the probe so far has found that the illicit liquor had been supplied to the vendors through some government-licensed liquor shops in the region.“We have sealed the licensed shop of one Manish Lodhi as the counterfeit liquor had been supplied through him. We have also made him an accused in the case and taken samples from his shop for testing. He is currently absconding,” the officer said.Congress leader Mr. Patwari claimed the number of deceased to be more than 50 as he slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party government and sought the resignation of Excise Minister Jagdish Devda, who is also a Deputy Chief Minister.Media’s responsibility: Congress“More than 50 people have died, and there are fears that the death toll may rise further. More than 150 people are undergoing treatment, and around 50 of them are in critical condition. People are falling ill at different places. I also appeal to the media to present the actual situation accurately before the public,” Mr. Patwari said, after visiting the affected families.“The Excise Minister should have resigned. People have died due to poisonous liquor in 13 districts [across the State in the past]. Earlier, people had died in Morena as well. The same SP [Superintendent of Police Anurag Sujania] who was removed after the Morena poisonous liquor deaths is now posted here,” the Congress leader said.As per reports of the time, about 20 people had died in Morena district in 2021 with allegations surfacing that illicit spurious liquor was being sold with police’s knowledge after which Mr. Sujania and the then Morena Collector Anurag Verma were removed from the post.‘To protect M.P. authorities’Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly and Congress MLA Umang Singhar alleged that the spurious liquor was being made within M.P. and that the U.P. connection was being mentioned “to protect Madhya Pradesh officials”.Mr. Singhar also alleged that various local BJP leaders, including MLA and former Minister Bhupendra Singh, were involved in the business of illicit liquor.The Congress leader also sought a high-level investigation into the inter-State illicit liquor trade as he highlighted that two Madhya Pradesh residents had been arrested in connection with the death of 13 people in the August hooch tragedy in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar.Earlier on Monday (September 7 ), three Excise department officials and two police officers were suspended by the Madhya Pradesh government over negligence and failing to act on recent complaints about sale of counterfeit liquor in Sagar.