Ahmedabad : The death toll in the Bhavnagar spurious liquor tragedy has climbed to eight, while 39 people remain hospitalised after allegedly consuming methanol-laced liquor. Police investigating the incident have uncovered an organised network involved in the illegal manufacture and distribution of the toxic liquor. The investigation has named 21 accused, of whom 13 have been arrested including the alleged mastermind, Rais of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
The investigation took a new turn after the body of Hitesh Parmar, a government school teacher from Songadh, was found in suspicious circumstances after he allegedly fell from the second floor of an apartment in Bhavnagar on the night of August 19. Police recovered a half-filled bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from his house during the investigation. “A total of 21 accused have been named in the FIR and 13 of them have been arrested. The spurious liquor was prepared using methanol, and methanol has been detected in the blood sample of the first deceased.
“Narendra Yadav came from Madhya Pradesh a day or two before the liquor was prepared. After making the spurious liquor, he himself tested it. Raees, a resident of Ujjain, is the main accused in the case,” Chavda said. Investigators said Gautam Solanki and Rais allegedly arranged methanol, other raw materials, empty bottles, bottle caps and Royal Stag labels from different locations in Ahmedabad and transported them to Vartej.
In the first stage, 51 boxes of liquor were allegedly prepared and sold. The second batch was allegedly destroyed after it failed quality checks. The third batch, consisting of 25 boxes, was allegedly distributed in Bhavnagar and nearby villages. During a raid, Neelambagh police seized 36 boxes of liquor allegedly supplied to a man identified as Sanjay, providing investigators with leads into the distribution network.
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