The death toll in the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/07/26/at-least-21-dead-30-fighting-for-life-after-drinking-counterfeit-alcohol-in-india/">counterfeit liquor tragedy</a> in India’s western Gujarat state increased to 39 on Tuesday. As many as 88 people are undergoing treatment at several state hospitals and at least a dozen of them are critically ill. The state government said the cause of the deaths is “chemical poisoning” and the brew consumed by the victims contained 98.71 per cent methyl alcohol. The police in their initial investigation found that small-time bootleggers from different villages in Botad had made the counterfeit alcohol by mixing water with methyl alcohol. The fatal combination was then sold to villagers for 20 rupees (25 cents) a pouch. The methyl alcohol was illegally sourced by a worker in a chemical packaging company in the state’s Ahmedabad city. Police said two cases were filed against 25 persons on charges of murder and nine persons were arrested. About 460 litres of the chemical was also seized in the raids. “This is a clear-cut case of chemical poisoning," senior state police officer Ashok Kumar Yadav told <i>The National</i>. "The Forensic Science Laboratory report has also confirmed that." Alcohol has been banned in Gujarat since 1960 but illegal sales of products such as moonshine are rampant, particularly among the poor. The "dry" state is administered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Consumers need special "permits" to purchase or consume alcohol in the state, one of the many in India where prohibition has spurred an illicit liquor market. Any person caught purchasing, consuming or serving alcohol without a permit can be jailed for five years. Any person involved in making liquor that has led to a fatality faces the death penalty. The incident has triggered a political slugfest ahead of the assembly elections next year. The Aam Admi Party, one of the opposition parties, has termed the deaths “murder” and will hold a protest outside the BJP headquarters in capital New Delhi on Wednesday.