Three methanol suppliers arrested in Bhavnagar hooch tragedy case

Three more persons, including alleged methanol suppliers, were arrested in connection with Gujarat’s Bhavnagar hooch tragedy, taking total arrests to 31. Police said methanol was supplied from Delhi and transported to Ahmedabad before being used to manufacture toxic liquor

Ahmedabad: Three more persons, including the alleged suppliers of methanol used to manufacture toxic liquor, have been arrested in the Bhavnagar hooch tragedy, taking the total to 31, Gujarat Police said on Thursday.

The latest arrests were made in Delhi with the help of the local police as the Gujarat Police’s State Monitoring Cell (SMC) traced the source and supply chain of methanol, the highly toxic chemical found in the liquor that claimed 13 lives in Bhavnagar district.

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The SMC said its investigation found that Delhi resident Pramod Kumar Budakoti had allegedly supplied methanol to Rohit Pradhan and Keshav Jatav.

The methanol was then allegedly transported by other accused to the godown of a transport company in Ahmedabad, it said. The three accused were arrested with the help of Delhi Police and the process of obtaining their transit remand and bringing them to Gujarat is underway, according to the SMC press release.

The 28 persons arrested in the case earlier have been remanded in police custody. Thirteen persons died and several others fell ill after consuming spurious liquor in Vartej area of Bhavnagar last week. The liquor had been allegedly prepared at the house of local resident Gautam Solanki and packed in bottles carrying the label of a popular Indian-made foreign liquor brand.

The SMC formed 16 teams and sent them to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and different parts of Gujarat to gather evidence and trace those involved in the case. Gujarat, notably, is a dry state where the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol are prohibited.