Even as the toll in the hooch tragedy rose to 38, the PunjabPolice on Friday arrested seven more bootleggers from Amritsar Rural, Batalaand Tarn Taran districts in over 40 raids conducted by five teams led by seniorofficers.
With these arrests, the total number of persons apprehendedso far in the spurious liquor deaths case has gone up to eight, includingBalwinder Kaur, who was arrested last night from Muchhal village, PS Tarsikka.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said a huge quantity of spurious liquor,drums, storage cans etc have been recovered from the accused and the same hasbeen sent for chemical analysis to check for constituents of spurious liquor.More arrests are likely, he said, adding that raids were continuing and thepolice teams would continue to crack down on all those involved in the case tounravel the extent of the spurious liquor mafia operating in the region.
While Balwinder Kaur and Mithu were arrested from AmritsarRural district, two persons identified as Darshan Rani and Rajan were nabbedfrom Batala district. Four others, namely Kashmir Singh, Angrez Singh, Amarjitand Baljit, have been arrested from Tarn Taran.
An FIR no. 253, dated July 31, 2020 has been registered u/s304/307/120-IPC at Police Station Sadar Tarn Taran against the four accusedarrested from the district, said the DGP, adding that the bootleggers hadadmitted to supplying spurious liquor in village Norangabad. Mithu, who was arrested from village Jasso Nangal,PS Khilchian, today, has also admitted to his role in the supply of spuriousliquor, said the DGP.
As of Friday evening, 10 persons had died of spurious liquorconsumption in Amritsar Rural, nine in Batala and 19 in Tarn Taran. The deathtoll could rise further as the spurious liquor network was evidently spreadacross many areas, said the DGP, adding that questioning of the arrestedaccused was expected to lead to further arrests in the case.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has alreadyordered a magisterial inquiry by Divisional Commissioner Jalandhar into thehooch tragedy. The inquiry will look into the facts and circumstances leadingto incidents, as well as into any other issue(s) connected or relevant to theincident (s) and the circumstances leading to it. It will be conducted byDivisional Commissioner Jalandhar, along with Joint Excise & TaxationCommissioner Punjab, and SPs Investigation of the concerned districts,according to an official spokesperson.
The Chief Minister has given Commissioner Jalandhar Divisionthe liberty to co-opt any civil/police officer or an expert to facilitate theexpeditious conduct of the enquiry. He has promised strict action againstanyone found complicit in the case.