Methanol was mixed in the liquor that caused Surat hooch tragedy: ATS SP

Surat: The ATS team probing the Surat hooch tragedy which has claimed 22 lives so far, today said that spurious liqour sold by bootleggers was made of poisnous methenol.

Addressing a press conference here this evening ATS SP Himanshu Shukla who is leading the ATS probe said that the methanol used to make the hooch was taken out of a truck which was taking the supply for a chemical industrial unit in Bharuch from Mumbai.

Some of the bootleggers took out the methanol from the truck near Parbat Patia last month (August 17) and sold it to common people and other smaller bootleggers after mixing water in it, he said adding that the three bootleggers involved in the incident namely Ramu Yadav, Kailash Tiwary and Manoj Verma have been nabbed along with the truck driver and his helper.

To a query Mr Shukla,, whose probe committee was constituted at the instructions of Cheif Minister Vijay Rupani,on September 12 said that police has no direct involvement in the incident. ‘Based on the two days of probe I can say with confidence that police was not directly involved in the illegal liquor business however negligence of police can’t be ruled out,’ he said.

He said that his team has made a total of 14 accused in the hooch tragedy.

Mr. Shukla said that the probe by his team was still on.

Notably 22 people died after consumption of methenol mixed poisnous liquor in and around Vareli village of Surat district in last over 10 days.

Another probe committee led by ADGP (Law and Order) V M Pargi had submitted its report to the home department on last Tuesday.

Four policemen including a PI, two ASI and one head constable have been suspended in connection with the tragedy while the then IGP and SP rural of Surat were transferred as a punitive measure.

DeshGujarat