Haryana hooch tragedy: 20 dead; main accused learnt alcohol manufacturing from internet, say police

The police identified arrested accused Ankit alias Mogli as the “main conspirator of the case” and said he was looking after factory operations. A resident of Ambala’s Ugala village, Mogli is already facing nine cases for drug smuggling, dangerous driving, cheating etc and has been booked in four new cases after the hooch tragedy.

“During interrogation, Mogli said he learnt liquor manufacturing from the internet. He could not find a safe space to set up a factory but Monu Rana (an alleged gangster), an accused, and his associates helped him get a space,” Ambala Superintendent of Police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said on Friday.

The police discovered the illegal liquor factory on November 9 in an area near Dhanaura village. They also recovered machines, 14 big drums and other materials required to manufacture the alcohol. According to the police, the factory became functional on November 6 this year and the first death was reported on November 8. The deceased had consumed the spurious liquor supplied from this factory.

“As it was a very sensitive matter, we formed a special investigation team in which police from two units of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) were also associated. We have broken the entire network within one week after arresting all members of the gang, including those involved in the manufacturing of the liquor and its distribution,” SP Randhawa added.

Apart from Mogli, who was arrested on November 13, the police also arrested co-accused Prince Walia for “supplying the spurious liquor to the distributors”. According to the police, an associate of Mogli, Shekhar, brought labourers to manufacture the liquor after offering good money to them.

Mogli was remanded to police custody for six days. “He told the investigators that he was involved in manufacturing spurious liquor earlier too, and in 2001, his illegal factory was unearthed,” SP Randhawa said.

According to the police, Mogli came in contact with Rana and his associates when he was lodged in Kurukshetra jail in connection with a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. “In the jail, they decided to restart liquor manufacturing,” the SP said.

The police said that ethanol was arranged from a factory in Kambopura village of Karnal district. From there, the police said, Mogli bought 10 drums, each consisting of 200 litres of ethanol, from Anshul Garg, a resident of Karnal, for Rs 2 lakh. Garg was arrested on Thursday.

The Ambala SP said that Mogli bought bottles from Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh to supply liquor while labels for the bottles were procured from a Delhi resident, Ravinder alias Bablu, who has now been arrested.

According to Randhawa, some of the accused have already been arrested by the Yamunanagar police. “They are close associates of Monu Rana and used to interfere in the functioning of liquor vends in the area on his behalf. Rana and other members of the gang will be brought to Ambala district on a production warrant. They will be arrested in the latest case,” SP Randhawa added.

The SP said they would ensure strict punishment for the guilty. “We are getting assessed value of their properties too. If irregularities were found in that, we will take action as per law,” he added.