Dagri Distilleries Private Ltd

Vinod Chauhan alias Dagri, the main accused in the hooch tragedy that killed more than 150 people, dreamed of being the 'king of good times' of the county-liquor trade.

He told investigators of the crime branch that he wanted to develop a brand of his own for country-made liquor in the state.

He allegedly told the cops that it was this ambition that made him experiment with methyl alcohol. A crime branch source said that during the investigation, cops found that Dagri was experimenting to create his own low cost brand.

He also took the help of his friends like Jayesh Thakkar and Sunil More, sources said. "Vijay Mallya's luxurious lifestyle was his dream and he wanted to be the country made liquor king in the state," the source said.

His primary motive was to earn big profit from the business.

He also wanted to develop a taste that was unique to his liquor thus giving himself an identity in the state. The cops have also found that he aspired to have a state-wide network of his own brand and had plans to curb small bootleggers in their dealings in country-made liquor. However, his plans went haywire when the hooch tragedy killed more than 150 people in the state.

The high profit earned from methyl alcohol, the low cost of labour and almost non-existent risk from the cops emboldened him to go ahead with his plans.

Dagri who also took advice from his friends to fulfil his dream was given the idea of using methyl alcohol by Sunil More when they met in Junagadh jail. 

Dagri manufactured his own methanol-based liquor after he got the chemical from Thakkar on July 5, 2009.  The police are trying to probe other links in the case. They are also on the look out for those who helped Dagri.

Mallya was Dagri's idol
Vijay Mallya's flashy lifestyle was all the inspiration that Dagri needed to manufacture spurious liquor. Dagri wanted to replicate Mallya's lifestyle and be the liquor king of Gujarat.  He was continuously experimenting for a new type of liquor which could give liquor manufactured by him a unique identity. "Mallya was his ideal and he even held booze parties for his friends the way Mallya does. He got bar girls from Mumbai to serve booze at such parties," a source said. 

More arrests by crime branch
The crime branch detained many bootleggers and suppliers of spurious liquor on Monday for interrogation. A source close to the development told DNA that the people detained are directly or indirectly connected to the sale of illegal liquor in the city.

Cops still probing conspiracy theory
Police are still probing allegations that Dagri and his subordinates had intentionally manufactured spurious liquor to cause deaths. A cop, who is closely associated with the case, told DNA that there are some angles that needed to be probed before reaching a conclusion about intentional deaths.  "There may or may not have been an intention to kill people and we are still investigating it," the source said.

Did Thakkar pay Rs75 L as bribe?
Jayesh Thakkar, who was arrested by the police in connection with the hooch tragedy, is alleged to have paid Rs75 lakh as protection money to police and other concerned agencies. This included the vigilance and excise department. The protection money was paid so as to help his illegal chemical trade in the state.

Thakkar's headquarters was his closed petrol pump on Anand-Bharuch Highway. He had a wide network that supplied various type of chemical including methyl alcohol. "He can even produce duplicate bills of any company or government organisation to fool the concerned authorities," a police source said.

Thakkar procured the chemical from various chemical companies. He also had a strong network of chemical thieves who stole chemical from tankers parked on the highway.
"He has good knowledge about procurement, storage and use of chemicals," the police source said.