Haryana hooch tragedy: Accused bought 2,000 litres of industrial-grade ethanol

Ambala, November 17

Ankit, the prime accused in the spurious liquor manufacturing case, had procured 2,000 litres of industrial-grade ethanol (suspected to be special denatured spirit) from a sanitiser manufacturing unit in Karnal at a cost of Rs 2 lakh.

Not fit for consumption

“Extra neutral alcohol (ENA) is used to manufacture liquor as well as sanitiser, but if some chemical denaturants are mixed in the ENA, it turns into “special denatured spirit”, which is not fit for consumption. If SDS, meant for sanitiser, is used to manufacture liquor, it can lead to death. Deepa Chaudhary, DETC (excise), Ambala

INLD chief Nafe Singh Rathee meets victims’ family

Yamunanagar: INLD state president Nafe Singh Rathee today visited Mandebari and other villages to meet the families of the victims. Speaking to mediapersons, Rathee held the state government responsible for the hooch tragedy. “It’s a big tragedy, but no one from the government, including Yamunanagar MLA and officers of the local administration, have visited the families. It shows the insensitivity of the government,” he said.

With the arrests of the prime accused, distributors and raw material suppliers, the Ambala police have arrested 12 people so far. They include Uttam, Puneet, Vikrant Rana, Mohit, Shekhar, Praveen, Anshul Garg, Ramandeep, Saurabh, Prince Walia, and Ravinder Pal.

As per information, Ankit, who had learnt the liquor manufacturing process through online videos, with the help of gangster Shamsher Singh, alias Monu Rana, and his accomplices, started manufacturing at Mullana in the first week of November. As many as 10 drums of industrial-grade ethanol were procured from Anshul Garg, owner of the sanitiser factory, through Ramandeep.

The labels of “Malta” brand were prepared by Ravinder Pal from Delhi, while the empty bottles were procured from Himachal Pradesh. The essence and colour was procured from a shop in Chandigarh. Ankit’s associate Shekhar arranged labour from Uttar Pradesh for manufacturing and labelling. The accused were preparing the liquor in the garb of phenyle.

SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said: “The accused had started operations on November 6, supplied its first batch between November 6 and 7, and the first death was reported on November 8. The main conspirator, distributor and raw material suppliers have been arrested.”