Bhavnagar Spurious Liquor Tragedy: Death Toll Rises to 5; 21 Booked, 5 Policemen Suspended

Bhavnagar: At least four people have died and 18 others are undergoing treatment after allegedly consuming spurious liquor carrying fake Royal Stag labels in Bhavnagar district, prompting the state government to hand over the investigation to the State Monitoring Cell (SMC). One more death is being treated as suspected, taking the total number of reported deaths to five.

The seriousness of the incident came to light after the Gujarat Home Minister held a meeting at Ahmedabad airport late on August 18 and directed the SMC to take over the investigation. SMC SP Mayur Singh Chavda subsequently reached Bhavnagar, while senior police officials reviewed the case.

According to officials, the affected people are from five villages. Of the people who fell ill, 18 are currently undergoing treatment, with two in critical condition. Four patients are in the ICU and two are on ventilators, while 10 others are reported to be stable.

Bhavnagar District Collector Manish Kumar Bansal appealed to anyone who may have consumed liquor carrying the Royal Stag label during the past two to four days to immediately seek medical attention, irrespective of whether they have developed any symptoms.

As per the primary probe, the liquor was allegedly manufactured by mixing methanol and other substances and then sold as branded liquor. Police found empty bottles, caps and fake Royal Stag stickers allegedly used to make the spurious liquor appear genuine.

According to the investigation, Narendra Singh Yadav alias Doctor, who had reportedly come from Madhya Pradesh, allegedly guided the manufacturing process. Saras, Ganesh and Aman are accused of preparing the liquor at the house of alleged mastermind Gautam Solanki in the Vartej area.

Police have also identified Rais, a resident of Ujjain, along with Zubair and Gautam Solanki of Vartej, as allegedly involved in procuring the liquid material, empty bottles, caps, fake labels and methanol from Sarkhej in Ahmedabad.

Liquor allegedly supplied through chain of bootleggers

Police said the spurious liquor consumed in Kharkadi was supplied through a chain involving several alleged bootleggers and suppliers. According to the investigation, Dharmendrasinh Batuksinh Gohil of Kharkadi obtained the liquor from Arjunsinh of Nana Khokhara, who allegedly sourced it from Paras alias Pappu of Sodvdara through Mandeep Singh of Kharkadi.

Paras allegedly obtained the liquor from Gautam Solanki in Vartej, according to police.

Investigators have also found that 28 boxes of the spurious liquor were brought from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, of which 15 boxes have been seized. Efforts are underway to trace and recover the remaining 13 boxes.

21 booked, five policemen suspended

Vartej police have registered a case against 21 people, including alleged main bootlegger Gautam Solanki, under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Gujarat Prohibition Act.

Bhavnagar District SP Nitesh Pandey has also suspended five policemen, four from Vartej police station and one from Nilambaug police station, in connection with the case. DeshGujarat