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Missing liquor case: Prime accused complains of chest pain, shifted to PGIMS Rohtak
Villagers gherao health centre in Kharkhauda, accuse police of assaulting liquor trader
The main accused in missing liquor case Bhupinder Singh on Friday was admitted to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak after he complained of chest pain.
He was in police custody since Monday after 5,500 boxes of liquor went missing from a godown belonging to his mother in Sonepat’s Kharkhauda. CMO at a community health centre in Kharkhauda Dr Ravish said that the police brought Bhupinder to the centre on Friday evening after he complained of chest pain and fell unconscious.
“We have referred him to PGIMS, Rohtak after giving him primary treatment,” he added. Meanwhile, residents of Sisana village gheraoed the Kharkhauda community health centre after Bhupinder was brought there and accused the police of assaulting the liquor trader.
Sarpanch of the village Munni Devi alleged that police had thrashed Bhupinder while he was in their custody. “The police want to kill Bhupinder after names of officials from their department had cropped up in the case,” she added.
Later, Kharkhauda DSP Harender Kumar and SHO Mandeep took Bhupinder to PGIMS, Rohtak in an ambulance. Refuting the allegations, Harender Kumar said that the accused was brought to the health centre after his health deteriorated. The police did not thrash him.
A three-member special investigation team along with Sonepat police is probing the role of some liquor traders, two former SHOs, some policemen and excise officials behind this liquor scam. Two former Kharkhauda SHOs, who were suspended last week for their alleged role in the case are on the run, and the police are making efforts to nab them.
A police official privy to the development said that during the course of investigation Bhupinder had revealed that he along with his accomplices was involved in selling Haryana-made liquor in Punjab by using fake labels. “The accused also confessed to carrying a spare key of the godown, from where 5,500 boxes of liquor went missing. We have also recovered 1,400 boxes of illicit liquor from the same godown,” the police added.
The police had also seized ₹97 lakh in cash, two pistols and three mobile phones besides a sports utility vehicle following a raid at Bhupinder’s house in Chandigarh on Sunday. The two godowns in Sonepat from where a huge stock of liquor had reportedly gone missing last week are stated to belong to accused Bhupinder’s mother.
