Four persons have died after consuming illicit liquor in Shankar Vihar colony in Ghaizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, police said today.

The victims, identified as Sandeep, Ashok, Avinash, Ravinder and Sriniwas, fell sick after consuming hooch last night, Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh said.

Moments later, Sandeep, Ashok and Avinash fell unconscious and were rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead, Singh said.

Ravinder and Sriniwas were also admitted at the hospital. Ravinder died this morning at the Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital in Delhi while Sriniwas was still undergoing treatment, the officer said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the loss of lives.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Adityanath has directed the police and district administration to carry out on the spot inspection and initiate stringent action against the guilty persons.

Directions have also been issued to provide adequate treatment to the affected persons, an UP government spokesperson said.

The SSP said Khoda SHO Dhruv Bhushan Dubey, police post in-charge Ram Samajh Rana and beat constables Rajbir Singh and Mohammad Asgar were suspended for dereliction of duty after the incident came to light.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Ritu Maheswari wrote to the State Excise Commissioner urging stringent action against errant staff of the department for not cracking down upon illicit liquor sale in the area.  -- PTI