At least 20 people have died in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district due to the consumption of adulterated alcohol produced by an inter-state fake liquor gang. The gang sourced raw materials from Delhi and manufactured the spurious liquor before selling it in the region. Notably, one of the individuals involved in the production died after drinking the contaminated product himself earlier this month, according to police reports.
The primary suspects, Manish Lodhi and Siddharth Kushwaha are yet to be arrested. A police team arrested a bottle supplier, Pankaj Rai, and, acting on his information, raided the factory operating in Rai Colony in Gwalior. In investigations conducted by a separate police team, the owner of RN Chemical, Anup Giri, who sent chemicals from Delhi to Sagar, was taken into custody and on questioning, confessed that he had sent five plastic drums of industrial spirit/thinner from Delhi to Sagar by transport. Giri has been arrested.
“On September 6, police received reports of deaths in villages under Banda police station due to spurious liquor consumption. Police seized machines used to produce bottles, sealing equipment, 11,050 empty bottles, raw capsules for plastic bottles, and other materials during raids conducted across the state. So far, police have named 52 people as suspects in the case, arresting 37.
Separate cases were registered and the main accused Ravi Lakhera and Karni Sena leader Chandrabhan alias Chandu Raja were arrested,” Anurag Sujania, Sagar superintendent of police, said.
“Another accused, Chandu Raja alias Chandrabhan, admitted to partnerships with licensed contractors Siddharth Kushwaha and Manish Lodhi to facilitate illegal sales through licensed shops. The liquid used for making liquor had come to Sagar by transport. “Chandu Raja gave consent to Dinesh Shivhare and his team to make fake liquor in village Tatarwara, so that more profit could be earned.
Further investigation showed that Shivanjay Rajput and Rohit Patel connected Chandu Raja with Dinesh Shivhare of Morena, who brought raw materials including industrial spirit from Delhi and bottle wrappers from Gwalior,” said the SP. Chandu Raja sold the boxes of the liquor through his associates under the guise of licensed shop to the commission agents of nearby villages of Tatarwara village Nauraj, Gugra, Chhapri, Jagthar, Bamurabheda, Patan and surrounding villages,” Sujania said.
