E-Paper
Illicit liquor racket: Mastermind learnt alcohol-making from internet
Arranged logistics from Karnal, Delhi, HP; met gangster Monu Rana in Kurukshetra jail. Days after the Ambala police arrested the prime conspirator in the spurious liquor case in which 20 people lost their lives, it was found that he learnt liquor making from internet and arranged its logistics from Karnal, Delhi and Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh.
Days after the Ambala police arrested the prime conspirator in the spurious liquor case in which 20 people lost their lives, it was found that he learnt liquor making from internet and arranged its logistics from Karnal, Delhi and Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh.
The accused, Ankit alias Mougli, a resident of Ugala village in Barara, was arrested on Monday by CIA Shahazadpur and taken into six-day remand.
Addressing the media, SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said that so far 12 accused, including Mougli, have been arrested for allegedly preparing illicit liquor at an illegal unit and selling it using fake labels.
The liquor unit was raided by the police during the intervening night of November 8 and 9; hours after six men lost their lives in Yamunanagar due to its consumption.
“Ankit was familiar with the process of liquor making and has past criminal record in liquor and drugs smuggling. He was undergoing trial in an NDPS case, when he came in contact with gangster Monu Rana in Kurukshetra jail. He conspired with Kapil Pandit, Gaurav and Pradeep, and arranged the site through Uttam. They arranged ethanol from a sanitiser manufacturer in Karnal through Deepa, printed stickers in Delhi from Ravinder alias Bablu and bought bottles from Kala Amb in Himachal. They purchased essence from a unit in Chandigarh and Ankit’s old acquaintance Shekhar had brought four labourers from Uttar Pradesh,” he added.
The SP said that they had told the neighbours that phenol is being manufactured, while two of the labourers from UP died after consuming the same liquor.
“Accused in the case like Monu Rana and those arrested by the Yamunanagar police will be brought on production remand soon,” he added.
In 2021, Ankit was arrested after an illicit liquor factory was raided by the police and later in several NDPS cases in Kala Amb, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
Meanwhile, the Yamunanagar police’s CIA-2 unit arrested Sushil alias Tinku, Amarnath and Vishal Rana in connection with the supply nexus of the spurious liquor.
A police spokesperson said that while Sushil and Amarnath are two of the four partners in the liquor vend that supplied spurious alcohol to the Khurdas, Vishal had invested money in it.
