Three men die after consuming poisonous liquor in Faisalabad

TOBA TEK SINGH: Three young men died in Faisalabad after consuming poisonous liquor, according to a police case and additional details cited by local sources.

An FIR registered by Jhang Bazaar police on the complaint of investigation officer Muhammad Muzammil said he had been informed about the deaths of three people near Hameed Park after they consumed toxic liquor. The deceased were identified as Shahzad of Saifabad, Nadeem of Sukhar and Usman of the New Gulberg area.

According to the FIR, witnesses told the investigation officer that unidentified men arrived in the area in a rickshaw on May 29 and delivered liquor to the three victims. They said the condition of the men worsened after they drank it. Shahzad and Nadeem died on May 31 and were later buried, while Usman died on Wednesday.

The same witnesses told police that the unidentified men had exchanged harsh words with the victims and allegedly poisoned them in revenge, according to the FIR.

However, local sources gave a different account of how the liquor reached the victims. They claimed the poisonous alcohol had been supplied from the limits of Factory Area police station by a drug dealer and was consumed during a gathering held on the main highway within the jurisdiction of the Gulfshan Colony police post.

Those sources said the three men were addicts and had been provided locally made poisonous liquor by the dealer. They said the friends arranged the gathering at the Saifabad Road rickshaw stand on the third day of Eid and drank the liquor there.

According to the same account, when their condition deteriorated they were taken to Ghulam Muhammadabad General Hospital. Shahzad, 27, died on May 31, and Nadeem, 25, died about an hour later. Usman, 30, died on Wednesday.

Sources further claimed that four youths had consumed the liquor that day and that one survived. They identified the survivor as Saqib, a resident of Saifabad.

The police version recorded in the FIR and the account shared by sources differ on key details, including the circumstances in which the liquor was supplied and consumed.