New Delhi/Mumbai: Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused of Mumbai hooch tragedy from the national capital, in which more than 100 people succumbed to the killer brew in suburban Malwani in Mumbai.
Hours after the Maharashtra government ordered a probe into the tragedy today, in a joint operation by the Delhi Crime Branch and Mumbai Police, main supplier Atiq was arrested from North East district near Seelampur in the national capital.
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.
Interrogation of Francis D’mello, one of the seven accused arrested in the case, has revealed details indicating a highly organised racket, wherein the hooch was brought into Mumbai via a middleman and then dispersed among liquor den runners.
Police have also nabbed around 20 people following the tragedy. Two women bootleggers, who were arrested late Sunday, last week, were sent to police custody till June 26.
The death toll in the Mumbai hooch tragedy - the worst in 11 years in Maharashtra - shot up to 102 yesterday.
Last week, the tragedy took place on Wednesday night at the Laxmi Nagar slum in Malwani, Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the government is now planning to amend laws pertaining to the sale, storage and transportation of country liquor to avoid similar tragedies in future.
Excise Minister Eknath Khadse had said that his government plans to amend the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act with proposals to take strong action for production and sale of hooch and against bootleggers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the police and home department to ensure the death penalty for all those responsible for the hooch tragedy.
In December 2004, 87 people died in two separate such incidents in Mumbai.
(With Agency inputs)
