Amid a furore about the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday amended a law to make punishments more stringent for manufacturing, selling and possessing illicit liquor, PTI reported.

The state government on Saturday enhanced the punishments through amendments to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937. The amended law states that in cases of deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor, bootleggers will be punished with rigorous imprisonment for life, along with a fine of at least Rs 10 lakh.

The amendment also increases the punishment for offences like brewing and selling illicit liquor to a maximum of ten years in jail and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh, according to PTI.

The toll in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy rose to 65 on Friday, The Hindu reported.

Thirty-two persons died at the Government Kallakurichi Medical College and Hospital, 22 at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital in Salem, four at the Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital and seven at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry.

The spurious liquor was bought from a vendor in the Karunapuram area of Kallakurichi town. After consuming the liquor, the patients complained of severe dizziness, headache, nausea, stomach pain, and eye irritation. Reports of the deaths first emerged on June 20.