The seven friends had visited Chinchoti waterfalls near Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway.
The Valiv police along with the fire brigade department from Vasai fished out the bodies of three teenagers from Chinchoti waterfalls. The teenagers had bunked college and were residents of Jogeshwari.Ravi Chaurasia,18, Rizwan Khan,18, Abdul Sabri,19, drowned after they misjudged the water level and slipped into the deep. The seven friends had visited Chinchoti waterfalls near Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. Seven of them are IT students at a Mumbai college. “The students were swimming when some locals asked them to not go to the deeper side. One teen started drowning and as two swam to his aid, they also drowned, ” said a Valiv police official.<!– Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>”The locals asked us to search for the bodies, and late on Saturday the bodies came afloat,” said an official. “The students had not informed their parents and had bunked lectures to visit the waterfalls,” said Prashant Subnaval, investigation officer, Valiv police station. “We have registered a case of accidental death in this regard and the post-mortem reports are awaited as the bodies have been handed over to family members,” said Subnaval.
Mumbai: Navy helicopters rescued 20 persons on board a listing merchant ship off Vasai coast in neighbouring Palghar district on Monday.
“While 19 were airlifted and brought to INS Shikra in Mumbai, one more on board the vessel was airlifted by a second Navy chopper,” a Defence spokesperson told PTI.
The Navy got a request at 7 AM for immediate evacuation of those on board the ship which was listing precariously, he said. According to the Defence spokesperson, the information was received around midnight by the Indian Navy that a vessel in distress ‘Jindal Kamakshi’ which was 40 nautical miles from Mumbai harbour and 25 nautical miles off Vasai coast has listed heavily.
The distress message said the vessel listed heavily, with 20 persons on board and requested assistance, the official said, adding the cause of the listing was not confirmed.
The Indian Navy had launched one Seaking helicopter to provide immediate assistance and a ship was also deployed for rendering assistance, he said.
He further said the vessel had counter ballasted (flood opposite tank) to improve stability.
Bootleggers don’t hesitate to add leather chappals, organic waste, dead rodents to this, at times even lizards, apparently to give the brew a potent kick.
Considering the unhygienic and morbid process involved in manufacturing hooch, which is called ‘hatbhatti’ in colloquial Marathi, even seasoned state excise officials can’t help but be astonished at people addicted to the brew.	Ingredients	Low-quality black jaggery, navsagar or yeast, peels of citrus fruits like oranges and sweet lime (by-products of your favourite mosambi juice). All these items are mixed with water and kept for a few days in a barrel, which in turn, is submerged inside water in shallow creeks or nullahs for fermentation. Bootleggers don’t hesitate to add leather chappals, organic waste, dead rodents to this, at times even lizards, apparently to give the brew a potent kick.<!– Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>	The process	Once fermentation is completed, the vessel, to which some ‘masala’ is added, is put on a wood-fired ‘bhatti’ and hooch is collected through condensation. State excise commissioner SS Shinde said that while the liquor manufactured using the process had around 16 to 17% alcohol content. However, unscrupulous brewers mix methyl alcohol (methanol) to for higher intoxication. An overdose of methanol can have fatal consequences – coma, loss of vision, and even death.	Killer factories in city	Officials said some spots where illicit liquor was manufactured included Goregaon, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Malad, Malvani and the creek and slum areas. Excise minister Eknath Khadse said some islands near Vasai were used to manufacture hooch, and in case of a crackdown, the bootleggers could spot the approaching officials using binoculars and flee. This liquor was illegally transported to Mumbai in tyre tubes, or by hiding it under piles of fish to mask the smell.
Mumbai: The death toll in the illicit liquor tragedy in a country liqour bar in suburban Mumbai shot up to 81 on Saturday morning with the death of more people due to the poisonous brew, officials in Mumbai said.
The toll was 20 on Friday noon, and suddenly shot up to 66 on Friday night with more people dying at short intervals and more being admitted with symptoms of poisoning during the day.
Police have cracked down on the law enforcers by suspending eight officials, including senior Police Inspector of Malwani police station Prakash S. Patil, three officers and four constables, Deputy Commissioner of Police Kulkarni said.
Three people, identified as Raju Hanumant alias Langada, Gautam Avde and Donald Robert, were arrested for the tragedy as they allegedly transported illicit pouches of liquor from the Vasai-Virar region in adjoining Thane.
They were presented before a Mumbai magistrate who sent them to police custody till 26 July.
Police are on lookout for three other accused, including a woman bootlegger, involved in supplying the poisonous concoction leading to the tragedy.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an inquiry into the incident and sought a report within two days, an official spokesperson said.
The victims, mostly living in Laxmi Nagar slums and employed as low-paying drivers, daily labourers etc., had consumed the cheap country liquor at a bar in Rathodi village here on Wednesday night.
Since Thursday they started developing symptoms of poisoning, including vomiting, abdominal pain and burning sensation in eyes and sudden collapse.
Their alarmed family members rushed them to local hospitals, but some of them died on way. Many of the victims hail from Gulbarga region of Karnataka.
Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said Mumbai Police Crime Branch has taken over the probe into the incident.
Teams have been formed to trace the origin of the spurious liquor, those involved in brewing, selling and transporting it and other aspects, officials said.
This is the first major illicit liquor tragedy in Mumbai since December 23, 2004, when hooch claimed 87 lives.
