In a breakthrough into the worst-ever hooch tragedy in Mumbai that has so far claimed 102 lives and rendered over 40 people ill, police have tracked down and arrested one of the main suppliers of the killer brew in Delhi today while the Maharashtra government has ordered a Chief Secretary-headed probe into the case
New Delhi/Mumbai: The main accused in the Mumbai hooch tragedy, in which at least 102 people have died, was arrested in the national capital on Tuesday, Delhi Police said.
Speaking to IANS, Delhi's Deputy Commissioner of Police Veenu Bansal confirmed the arrest.
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In Mumbai, Mumbai police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said bootlegger Mansur Latif Shaikh, who was the main kingpin behind the hooch tragedy, has been arrested in a joint operation.
"In a joint operation, the Mumbai and Delhi Police teams have arrested Mansur Latif Shaikh alias Atiq. Further investigations are underway," Kulkarni said.
Guardian Minister of Thane Eknath Shinde
Atiq, who operates from Mumbai, is belived to be main supplier of the killer hooch which led to the state's worst-ever illicit liquor tragedy, he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the police and home department to ensure the death penalty for all those responsible for the hooch tragedy.
Earlier, the state government ordered a probe into the incident by Chief Secretary S. Kshatriya.
Nearly a week after the tragedy struck a working class area in Malwani, Excise Minister Eknath Khadse after a cabinet meeting today told reporters that the probe would be conducted by Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya.
"The government has ordered a probe under the Chief Secretary to enquire into the deaths caused in the unfortunate Malwani hooch tragedy and submit the report within three months," Khadse said.
Rattled by the tragedy, which hit the Laxmi Nagar slum in suburban Malwani on Wednesday night, the government was also mulling to bring in a harsher law to deal with bootlegging to ensure that those arrested for distilling and selling illicit liquor do not get bail for at least one year after their arrest.
Meanwhile, Police and Excise personnel carried out extensive raids in suburban areas of Mumbai from where the illicit liquor is mostly sourced by bootleggers to be supplied to slums in the city.
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