'Mumbai hooch victims were not consuming liquor, but poison'

Shocking forensic scientists with decades of experience mdash who are no strangers to tragedy and are used to being surrounded by the stink of death mdash is no mean feat but the people responsible for the Malwani hooch tragedy which left more than 100 people dead have managed to do just thatAlso read Will seek fast track trial of Mumbai hooch case says CM Devendra FadnavisThey shall pay Police officials say the reports from the analysis will serve as vital evidence and hep build a watertight case against the accused File PicAnalysis of the viscera and other samples has led the scientists to a damning conclusion the level of methanol in the brew sold to the victims was so high that while they thought they were buying and consuming alcohol they were actually willingly gulping down poisonA team of 25 experts attached to the Toxicology department of the State Forensic Science Laboratory FSL Kalina have completed the mammoth task of analysing the over 200 samples of viscera blood vomit urine etc that were collected from treating hospitals and postmortem centres in the city and sent to them by the police officials probing the Malwani hooch tragedyMost of the viscera and blood reports were dispatched earlier this week by the concerned police stations to the postmortem centres for ascertaining the final cause of death which was pending in all the death cases Confirming the development a senior forensic scientist attached to FSL Kalina said ldquoWe have found methanol in all the samples that were sent to us but the shocking factor was the level of methanol mdash which varied from 15 mg to around 200 mg in the blood viscera samples and even stomach apart from ethyl alcohol presencerdquo midday is in possession of the viscera reports of two victimsRukmini Krishnamurthy ex director of the State Forensic Science Laboratory Kalina said ldquoThe reports clearly show in these two cases that the level of methyl alcohol is much much higher than the lethal dose LD Once the level of methyl alcohol goes above the LD level it leads to toxicity and may cause serious health issues In this case it is evident from the FSL reports that the deceased were not consuming liquor but were consuming poison directlyrdquoldquoIn my 35 years of experience I have seen several cases of methanol poisoning including those of the victims of the Vikhroli hooch tragedy of 2004 but I have never seen the methanol content this highrdquo added Krishnamurthy who is currently the chairperson and CEO of Helik Advisory Ltd and Academic Council Member Gujarat Forensic Science UniversityThe police have now submitted the FSL findings to the forensic surgeons in the Bhagwati postmortem centre which has conducted the majority of the autopsies in the hooch tragedy case and the Sion and Nair postmortem centres requesting them to submit the final causes of death reportVital evidenceAdditional Commissioner of Police Crime KMM Prasanna said ldquoWe have discussed the FSL reports and have even spoken to our legal department which has advised that it is a fit case to be taken up under the ambit of Section 300 point 4 If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must in all probability cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury to be tried under Section 302 Punishment for murder and 307 Attempt to murder The FSL report will help us to make a watertight case against the arrested accused We have sent a proposal to the state government requesting that Pradeep Gharat be appointed special public prosecutor in the case and are confident of getting conviction in this caserdquoAlso read Police ask court to invoke murder charges in Malwani hooch tragedyNoted criminal lawyer Majeed Memon expressed a similar view saying ldquoIf the prosecution can establish that the hooch provider had full knowledge that what he was supplying for human consumption to the customers was fatal and was not in the least meant for human consumption and yet with this knowledge the supply was made it would fall within the ingredients of Section 300 of Indian Penal Code The forensic evidence could be vitally relevant and would guide the court to draw conclusionrdquoCase 1Name Mukthar Yusuf Shaikh 38Resident of Daulat Nagar slum Karodi Gaon Malwani MumbaiDate of admission June 19 Shatabdi hospital KandivliDate of death June 21Postmortem done at Bhagwati postmortem center on June 21Cause of death Pending for viscera findings as on June 21FSL findings on viscera Level of methyl alcohol methanol and Ethyl alcoholgtgt In stomach 278 mg of methyl alcohol and 2981 mg of ethyl alcoholgtgt In liver spleen kidney 818 mg of methyl alcohol 4291 mg of ethyl alcoholgtgt In blood 1297 mg of methyl alcohol and 32221 mg of ethyl alcoholFinal cause of death Death due to poisoning by Methyl and Ethyl alcohol unnaturalCase 2Name Sakthivel Nagan Kounder 34Resident of Daulat Nagar slum Karodi Gaon Malwani MumbaiDate of admission June 20 Shatabdi hospital KandivliDate of death June 21Postmortem done at Bhagwati postmortem center on June 21Cause of death Pending for viscera findings as on June 21FSL findings on viscera Level of methyl alcohol and Ethyl alcoholgtgt In stomach 4855 mg of methyl alcohol and 64215 mg of ethyl alcoholgtgt In liver spleen kidney 3115 mg of methyl alcohol and 46 mg of ethyl alcoholgtgt In blood 2713 mg of methyl alcohol and 6121mg of ethyl alcoholFinal cause of death Death due to poisoning by Methyl and Ethyl alcohol unnatural