Amritsar hooch tragedy: Methanol sourced via online platforms, say cops
Another consignment of 600 litres ordered by the main accused Sahib Singh from Delhi seized in Patiala.
The arrest of 10 individuals, including kingpin identified as Sahib Singh, in connection with the death of 21 people who consumed spurious alcohol in Majitha has revealed the modus operandi of the accused, who used to source methanol in bulk from various places, including Ludhiana and Delhi, via online platforms, a top police officer said on Tuesday.
Police officials informed that methyl alcohol or methanol, popularly known as wood spirit, is used in making spurious liquor instead of extra neutral alcohol (ENA). Methanol is a light, colourless organic chemical compound which is poisonous when ingested and is illegally added to alcoholic beverages as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, which is the normal consumable alcohol.
As per the police officials, the accused diluted the methanol with water before selling it in small pouches priced at ₹10-20.
DIG (border range) Satinder Singh said this was the first time that the kingpin and distributor procured the methanol. “Prabhjit added water to dilute it and supplied it to the local distributors. The local distributors further sold this liquor to the people in pouches.”
Sharing details of modus operandi, senior superintendent of police (Amritsar rural) Maninder Singh said the investigations have revealed that the local distributor Prabhjeet Singh had received methanol consignment in 50-litre jerrycans from kingpin Sahib Singh.
“During questioning, Sahib Singh revealed he had ordered the methanol from a Ludhiana-based chemical firm, Sahil Chemicals, via an online platform,” the SSP said. The owners of the Ludhiana firm are among those arrested.
Apart from Sahib Singh, the main suppliers of methanol have been identified as Pankaj Kumar alias Sahil and Arvind Kumar, owners of Sahil Chemicals at Sukh Enclave in Ludhiana. Police have also arrested local distributors, identified as Prabhjit Singh and Kulbir Singh; and local sellers, identified as Ninder Kaur, Sahib Singh, Gurjant Singh, Arun alias Kala and Sikander Singh alias Pappu.
DIG (border range) said that an initial probe has revealed that another consignment of methanol, around 600 litres, was also ordered by the kingpin from a Delhi-based firm and has been seized.
“Excise and police teams retrieved and seized the consignment as soon as it arrived,” he said.
“It was learnt from the mobile phone of the main accused that he had ordered 600 litres more methanol to manufacture the spurious liquor. However, it was en route and was not delivered to the address given by Sahib Singh. The consignment was seized by the police”, the DIG added.
Patiala SSP Varun Sharma confirmed the development and said that the driver of the vehicle has been arrested.
“The seizure was made after DIG (border range) on Tuesday morning shared the intelligence input following the arrest of the main accused in Amritsar. The consignment was en route from Delhi to Punjab and was seized in collaboration with the excise department near Tepla. Three drums containing 600 litres of methanol mixed chemical concealed among other goods in the truck were recovered,” Sharma said.
He also said that one accused, identified as Navdeep Singh of Jandiala Guru in Amritsar, has already been arrested in this case.
“A thorough investigation has already begun to ascertain the role of the arrested driver. Besides, we are looking at where the methanol was procured,” the SSP added.
