PUNE: The Kolhapur unit of the Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) on June 29 raided an illegal unit manufacturing chemicals used to produce toxic liquor at Kurkumbh MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) in Daund taluka of Pune district; seizing 3,420 kg of chloral hydrate and 5,800 litres of raw chemicals that according to the police could have helped produce nearly 15 lakh litres of toxic liquor; officials said on Friday.
Event Context
The factory was raided following over a month of surveillance based on specific intelligence inputs. As per the ANTF, the raiding team recovered 3,420 kg of chloral hydrate and 5,800 litres of raw chemicals used in the manufacture of toxic liquor. The police also seized industrial machinery, including a centrifugal machine and a glass-lined reactor (GLR) used in the manufacturing process. The value of the seized machinery is estimated at around ₹1 crore.
Krishnat Pingale, DCP, ANTF, said, “A tipoff was received about illegal manufacturing at Kurkumbh MIDC. Accordingly, we followed the lead for a period of month. During the raid, we recovered a yellowish-white crystalline substance which was sent for forensic laboratory analysis. On Thursday, we got confirmation that the substance is chloral hydrate which is used in the production of toxic liquor.” Samples of the seized substance were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Pune, which confirmed it to be chloral hydrate. The police said that the quantity seized was sufficient to produce approximately 15 lakh litres of toxic liquor.
Four persons have been arrested in connection with the case. They have been identified as Kishore Dattatraya Surve, 52; Shailessh Vitthal Thakur, 55; Nabi Sarvar Jameer Siddiqui, 40; and Adesh Vitthal Pangavne, 58. Kishore Surve owns the illegal manufacturing unit, and a case has been registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Surve is a science graduate and was previously booked in an NDPS case. Thakur, too, is experienced in the chemical and allied fields. The remaining accused work at the illegal manufacturing unit; Pingale said.
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Preliminary investigation has revealed that some of the accused have a criminal background. The police are probing the source of the chemicals, their intended destination, and whether the accused are part of a larger illegal network involved in the manufacture and distribution of toxic liquor.
