Twin hooch tragedies in Tamil Nadu: A deadly brew unveils a shadowy network

Just a month after the state assembly proudly declared that hooch‑related deaths were a thing of the past, Tamil Nadu was shaken by two fresh incidents that together claimed 22 lives and sent 45 more to hospital beds.

The first tragedy unfolded in a tiny village near Villupuram, where a batch of illicit arrack laced with methanol was served at a local gathering. Within hours, men and women began vomiting, their vision blurring as the poisonous spirit attacked their nervous system. By the time the ambulance arrived, several had already slipped away.

In Chengalpattu’s Perumkaranai hamlet, a similar nightmare repeated itself. Families, still reeling from the first loss, gathered for a modest celebration, unaware that the cheap brew on the table was anything but ordinary. The same bitter taste of methanol turned the celebration into a morgue.

Relatives of the victims are still trying to make sense of it all. “We never imagined a drink could take our loved ones like this,” sobs Vasantha, 42, who lost her mother‑in‑law, while her husband Chinnathambi, 34, lies in a ventilated ICU, his future uncertain.

Investigators quickly traced the source back to a chemical engineer known as Ilaya Nambi. He confessed to selling barrels of methanol to an intermediary in Puducherry, who then funneled the toxic liquid to arrack sellers, sub‑agents and backyard brewers across the two districts. The chain, it turns out, was not a handful of rogue sellers but a fairly organised cottage industry, with licences, storage facilities and, apparently, some sympathetic police officers turning a blind eye.

The Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act and the 1959 Denatured Spirit Rules explicitly ban the retail sale of methanol for human consumption, yet the brew was being sold openly in village markets, slipping past authorities. The police have now arrested 17 people and filed murder charges, hoping to send a stern warning to the hidden network.

While the investigation unfolds, the state’s health department is scrambling to treat the survivors, many of whom have suffered irreversible eye damage. The tragedy has reignited a bitter debate about enforcement, corruption, and the need for better awareness about the deadly consequences of spurious liquor.