One person died and three fell ill in Jorhat on Monday after allegedly consuming spurious liquor.

The deceased, Subhraj Rajak, 35, from Tarajan locality in Jorhat town, and the other three, Biki Shah, 35, Jitendra Mahli, 33, and Manoj Shah, 36, allegedly consumed paint thinner with cold drink on Sunday night because of closure of liquors dens and wine shops during the lockdown, police said. They started developing complications on Monday and were admitted to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital. Rajak died on Monday evening. The other three have been shifted to a private hospital, a senior police official said. Their condition is stated to be critical. All four are daily wagers and habitual drinkers, the police said.

Jorhat sadar police station officer-in-charge Ananta Das told The Telegraph, “We have registered a case of unnatural death. Investigations are on.”

Illegal trade of country liquor has shot up in the state with Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) shops being shut down due to the nationwide lockdown despite the state excise department launching a crackdown on illegal liquor dens.

On March 29, the excise department conducted raids here and arrested three persons for producing illicit liquor. It also seized over 70 litres of illicit liquor during raids at Beltola, Bakrapara, Bhetapara and Dhirenpara. In a similar raid, one person was arrested with six cartons of IMFL.

In Tezpur, excise sleuths destroyed about 320 litres of illicit liquor, 2,800 litres of fermented wash, 1,050 kg of pachwai (used to ferment liquor) and seized 10 distillery apparatus. “During the raids, a door-to-door search was conducted and people were advised to follow the government guideline of social distancing and warned against consuming illicit liquor. Continuous raids are being carried out to ensure strict compliance of excise rules and the lockdown,” said Sailendra Pandey, public relations officer of excise minister Parimal Suklabaidya.

With IMFL production halted, the state excise department has asked at least 11 liquor manufacturing factories in the state to produce five crore bottles (200ml) of hand sanitisers to address its shortage amid the global pandemic. The first batch of the production was out on Tuesday. The department will distribute the sanitisers free in the state as well as in Manipur and Nagaland.

With the lockdown being imposed for almost a week now, the Assam excise department is likely to bear a revenue loss of around Rs 57 crore. According to the All Assam Liquor Trade Association, Assam collects around Rs 3,000 crore of revenue per annum from the sale of liquor in wine shops and bars in the state, of which 40 per cent comes from the city.

The Meghalaya government has approved home delivery of liquor on health grounds strictly against medical prescription issued by a registered medical practitioner during the lockdown. In Assam, the department is yet to take a call.