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