The Mumbai crime branch on Thursday night arrested one Kishore Patel, a resident of Silvassa in connection with the tragedy that has claimed over 100 lives so far.
The probe into the Malvani hooch tragedy has revealed that corrupt excise officials from Gujarat connived with methanol suppliers, and one such consignment could have led to the tragedy. In Gujarat, excise officials mix butane chemical in leftover methanol so that it cannot be used in liquor, but the unscrupulous officials charged money for not mixing butane, police sources said.
The Mumbai crime branch on Thursday night arrested one Kishore Patel, a resident of Silvassa in connection with the tragedy that has claimed over 100 lives so far. Patel is the ninth person to be arrested in the case and is part of the supply chain of methanol, the police said.
"Patel works in a factory that uses methanol for their products and also supplies to some other factory units in Vapi for their products. Such factories are given licences from the state government for procuring around 40,000 litres of methanol. As per local government rules, excise officials are supposed to mix butane in the leftover methanol so that it becomes bitter and unfit for use in liquor, but the excise officials would charge Rs10 per litre for not mixing butane. The methanol was then supplied to Mumbai by Ateeq and was later given to bootleggers," said a senior crime branch officer.
After this revelation was made by Patel, few excise officials from Gujarat have also come under the ambit of investigation of the hooch tragedy case. Patel is believed to have named few excise officials during his interrogation.
On June 18, residents of slums in Rathori Gaon in Laxmi Nagar near Gamdevi Jurrasic Park of Malvani had consumed spurious liquor after which some of them had breathing issues, vomiting and loose motions. Initially, the sick persons were rushed to Surana Hospital, rest were to Shatabdi Hospital. Considering seriousness of the case, police chief rakesh Maria had handed over the probe to the Crime Branch. Eight policemen from Malvani police station and four excise department officials have been suspended in the matter so far.
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