The Death toll in the hooch tragedy in West Bengal has mounted to 98, and the postmortem of all the bodies have been completed. The incident occurred yesterday when more than hundred people fell ill after consuming illicit liquor in Sangrampur area of South 24 Parganas district.

The dead and the ill are mostly poor. Those rendered ill were admitted to different hospitals. The general public in Sangrampur demonstrated in protest against the illicit liquor vendors in the area.

The issue was also raised in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly by the opposition Left Front MLAs. The state Government has announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees to the next of kin of the deceased.