The Madras High Court has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Kallakurichi illicit liquor tragedy that claimed the lives of 68 persons. A bench of Justices D Krishnakumar and Justice PB Balaji passed the orders on Wednesday, November 20, while hearing a batch of petitions seeking a CBI probe into the matter, as illicit liquor tragedies have become a recurring incident.

The bench directed Tamil Nadu’s Crime Branch, Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) to hand over all case files to the CBI, which has been directed to complete the investigation expeditiously. The court observed that the sale of the illicit liquor happened right under the nose of the police and the local authorities, who turned a blind eye to it and said that the investigation has to be transferred to the CBI. The bench also found it bewildering that the sale went completely unnoticed by the state police.

The case pertains to the tragedy that took place on June 18, when several individuals from Karunapuram village in Kallakurichi began showing extreme symptoms of illnesses, including chest pain, blurred vision, and nausea. All of them were found to be suffering from methanol poisoning from the illicit arrack they consumed. As many as 34 people died overnight, with the death toll rising to 68 over the next few days. The three main accused — Kannukutty alias Govindaraj, his wife Vijaya, and his brother Dhamodharan — were all arrested on June 23 and remanded in judicial custody. The methanol supplier, a man identified as Sivakumar from Chennai, was also arrested on the same day by the CB-CID.