The Bundelkhand belt of Madhya Pradesh has been struck by its second hooch tragedy in six years, leaving 11 dead in Sagar district, with investigators pointing to a suspected link to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where cheaper alcohol draws daily buyers across the border.

More than a dozen districts in Madhya Pradesh share boundaries with UP, where alcohol and petrol are comparatively much cheaper, encouraging people to cross the border to buy them, say locals.