Even though the liquor was consumed on Sunday night and the first death occurred on Monday morning, the district administration came to know about the incident only on Tuesday morning. It appears that the villagers made every effort to hide the incident from police and the administration got a tip-off from an anonymous caller. Preliminary police investigation indicates that the liquor was distilled illegally, though there are conflicting versions about how it reached the victims.

Sarvan Kumar, one of the sick persons who has been admitted to the general hospital here, claims that he found a can of liquor in the courtyard of his plot while he was cleaning the dung. The police are, however, not very eager to buy this theory and areinvestigating to find out the truth.

Six persons in two groups consumed the liquor to celebrate an engagement ceremony on Sunday night. One of them, Mohinder Kumar (30), suddenly fell ill and died on Monday morning. Later, one more person, Sita Ram (32), fell ill and was taken to a private clinic at Pundri, from where he was referred to a private nursing home at Kaithal. The owners of the nursing home claim that he was brought dead.

Bhagtu (65) and Sharvan Kumar were brought to the same nursing home later and were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. However, it is claimed that Bhagtu died on the way. Sharvan Kumar's relations got him admitted to the general hospital at Kaithal. Two other sick persons, Mai Lala and Suraj Bhan, were not taken to any hospital.

Following a tip-off on Tuesday morning, Superintendent of Police K K Sharma sent a team to the village. On getting confirmation about the liquor tragedy, the SP, accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Dr Mahavir Singh, went to the village, where theyintercepted the funeral procession of Bhagtu and urged the villagers to send the body for autopsy to Kaithal.