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Photo: BBC; Image source:
Tribune.com.pk
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Indian police have
arrested a bootlegger accused of supplying the toxic liquor that killed 100
people from a slum in the financial capital Mumbai, a senior officer has said.
Mansur Latif Shaikh, 26,
was picked up during a raid on his hideout in northwestern New Delhi on Tuesday
following a tip off, days after Mumbai police pledged to crack down on the
popular illicit trade.
AFP report continues:
Delhi deputy police
commissioner Veenu Bansal said in a statement Shaikh had confessed during
questioning to diluting three drums of “spurious liquor” that were packed into
pouches and sent to the western city.
“Since the last three
years he has been involved in the sale and supply of spurious liquor,” Bansal
said in the statement late Tuesday, describing Shaikh as the main suspect in the
case.
Victims first started
falling ill, some vomiting blood and suffering breathing problems, in the
middle of last week after drinking the moonshine in the Mumbai suburb of Malad
West.
Seven other people have
already been arrested over the tragedy that has killed 100 and left scores sick
in hospital.
Police are still waiting
for the results of an investigation to determine whether high levels of
methanol were present in the so-called country liquor.
Methanol, a highly toxic
form of alcohol used as anti-freeze or fuel, is often added to illicit booze in
India as a cheap and quick method of raising the alcohol content.
Unlicensed liquor is
widely consumed across the country where it is sometimes sold for less than a
dollar for a 25-centilitre bottle, with deaths frequently reported.
It is rare however for
such incidents to occur in a major city like Mumbai, with most cases taking
place in poor rural villages.
The latest incident is the
worst case of its kind to be recorded in Mumbai since 2004 when around 100
people died.
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