Gujarat SMC arrests 13, detains MP-based key suspect for toxic liquor that killed 7

Gujarat’s state monitoring cell (SMS) on Thursday said it has arrested 13 people and detained a suspected ringleader in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh in connection with the death of seven people due to spurious liquor in Bhavnagar.

Among the seven dead is Narendra Singh Yadav, alias Doctor, who came from Madhya Pradesh to blend the lethal concoction and succumbed to his own product.

Bhavnagar collector Manish Bansal said 32 people were undergoing treatment at hospitals and nine others had been discharged.

Mayur Chavda, superintendent of police (SP) at SMC, a specialised unit mandated to enforce prohibition in Gujarat, said Raees had been detained in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and was being brought to Gujarat.

A police officer said 13 of the 21 suspects named in the first information report (FIR) had been arrested and remanded in police custody for 10 days.

According to the FIR, Gautam Virambhai Solanki, 24, of Vartej allegedly partnered with Raees to manufacture the concoction at Solanki’s house. Raees brought in his associate Zuber, also from Ujjain, and the three travelled to Ahmedabad to procure material including methanol, bottles, caps and stickers of a popular whisky brand.

The first batch, comprising about 51 cases, was sold through Solanki and his brother-in-law Jatin, according to the FIR. Solanki is among the 13 accused arrested by the SMC.

After an initial batch was distributed, the group brought in Yadav to refine the process for a subsequent batch.

The deadly mixture was first consumed at a farmhouse party in Kharakadi village on August 16. Laboratory tests of seized bottles revealed a lethal composition of 38.59% methanol and just 0.94% ethanol.

A second batch did not make the cut and was destroyed, the FIR said.

According to the FIR, Raees then brought in Yadav who was considered a specialist. The group subsequently prepared about 25 more cases and distributed them to bootleggers and consumers in Bhavnagar.

The liquor was first consumed at a party at a farmhouse in Kharakadi village on the night of August 16, according to the FIR. Yadav fell ill after consuming the liquor and was admitted to a hospital in Bhavnagar on August 17. He died during treatment on August 18.

Gujarat is a dry state, where the manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor are prohibited under the state’s prohibition law.

The case was initially registered at Vartej police station as an accidental death case on August 18. During the investigation, police found that more people had died and suffered serious injuries after consuming spurious liquor. Gujarat DGP GS Malik then handed the investigation to the SMC.

The SMC arrested 13 suspects, recovered the liquor bottles, chemicals and other material used in its preparation.