Hooch tragedy: Illict liquor supplier held, Maha govt orders probe by chief secy

Mumbai/New Delhi: Six days after Mumbai’s worst hooch tragedy, which has claimed 102 lives so far, the man who allegedly supplied the killer brew was on Tuesday arrested and the Maharashtra government ordered a probe by the state’s Chief Secretary into the incident. Mansoor Ali, alias Atiq, said to be the main supplier of the spurious liquor, was apprehended by a joint team of Crime Branch of Mumbai police and North-East Delhi police from Seelampur in the national capital, officials said, in Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_2308984” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File/AFP[/caption] Mansoor was on the run after the death toll began mounting and was being sheltered by a “link”. On getting a tip-off, Mumbai police sought help of their Delhi counterparts and succeded in tracking down the link, who gave information leading to Mansoor’s arrest. Mansoor, according to sources, had smuggled the hooch to Mumbai from Gujarat, where liquor is prohibited. His father too was claimed to have been involved in the illegal trade. Meanwhile, Maharashtra government has announced a high-level probe into the tragedy by its top-most official. “The government has ordered a probe under the Chief Secretary to enquire into the deaths caused in the unfortunate Malwani hooch tragedy,” Excise Minister Eknath Khadse told reporters in Mumbai after a meeting of the state Cabinet. Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has been asked to conclude the probe and submit a report to the government in three months, he said. The death toll from the city’s worst such tragedy had risen to 102 last night, while over 40 people have been taken ill. So far seven persons have been arrested in the case and eight police and four excise officials suspended. All of those arrested are in police custody. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was briefed by Crime Branch officials about the ongoing investigation, meanwhile, said he wanted capital punishment for those responsible for the tragedy. “I want to see most severe punishment for the culprits. They should be hanged,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office quoted Fadnavis as having told the officials. Fadnavis asked them to build a “watertight” case against the accused, the CMO official said. Blaming the BJP-led state government’s lapses for the tragedy, opposition Congress has already demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio. “Excise Minister should take responsibility for this tragedy and quit. Since the Home Department is with the Chief Minister he should also resign,” Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said. Under attack over the tragedy that began unfolding at the Laxmi Nagar slums in suburban Malwani on Wednesday night, Excise Minister Khadse has promised enactment of a harsher law to deal with bootlegging to ensure that those arrested for distilling and selling illicit liquor do not get bail for at least one year after their arrest. Police and Exise department personnel continued raiding bootlegging dens in Mumbai’s suburbs from where illegally brewed liquor is sourced and supplied to the city’s slums. PTI