Hooch tragedy: Malwani accused was promised uninterrupted supply of methanol

After the arrest of key accused Mansoor Latif Khan alias Ateeq in the Malwani hooch tragedy, the police have now sent two teams to look for the two men from Ahmedabad who allegedly promised "uninterrupted supply of methanol" to him.

After the arrest of key accused Mansoor Latif Khan alias Ateeq in the Malwani hooch tragedy, the police have now sent two teams to look for the two men from Ahmedabad who allegedly promised "uninterrupted supply of methanol" to him.

The-key-accused-in-the-Malwani-hooch-tragedy-Mansoor-Latif-Khan-alias-Ateeq-was-arrested-from-Delhi-HT-photo

The role of the two men came to light following the arrest of a supplier from Vapi, Kishore Patel. According to the police, Patel supplied the stock from industrialists to Khan, who was known to Patel as Rahul. Patel told the investigators that Khan stopped taking methanol from him last month, after suppliers from Ahmedabad promised to provide him with a huge stock. So far, the police were looking at consignments from Vapi as the source of methanol, but now they suspect the stock came from Ahmedabad.

The police will take Patel to Vapi, to find the others involved in the supply chain.

On Friday, the crime branch seized a drum containing 180 litres of methanol from a godown at Masjid Bunder. The drum was part of the delivery for Khan on June 10. The police will send the samples to the forensic science laboratory. The police have also recovered CCTV footage from the godown to strengthen their case against the nine accused arrested so far.

More arrests are likely in the case, said crime branch officials.

The police are also looking for the two transporters, who got the contraband from Gujarat to Mumbai for Khan, and they plan to get in touch with the excise department in Gujarat.