Hooch Tragedy: Cops suspended for ‘negligence’, probe traces liquor supply chain

“While Patil has been suspended for negligence, preliminary probe has indicated that two beat constables were aware of the illicit liquor business and they have been put under suspension for connivance,” Maria said. The case further batters the image of the Mumbai Police, that is already battling allegations of custodial rape, drug peddling, corruption and fratricide within the force.

[related-post]

Apart from Patil, Assistant Police Inspector Jagdish Panhale, Sub Inspectors Shankar Gharge and Manisha Shirsat and Constables Rammilan Singh, Arun Jadhav, Sanjay Mane and Vilas Desai, too have been placed under suspension, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni. The excise department is probing if any excise officials may be involved as well.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Fadnavis said initial information indicated that spurious liquor was packed and sold off a counter of a local shop. The police is probing the supply chain.

Sources say they are still in the process of piecing together the cast of characters involved in the crime. A woman identified as Akka alias Mamta alias Mainaki Swami is now the centre of the police probe. The police is on the lookout for Akka and her associate, who they suspect supplied the illicit liquor to the arrested accused Raju Pascar (50) alias Langda. The other two accused identified as Donald Patel (47) and Gautam Harte (30) along with Pascar were remanded in custody of the Mumbai Police crime branch until June 26. Late on Friday night, the police arrested Francis D’Mello (46) and Salim Shaikh (39) from Kharodi village.

“Akka was a rank higher in the supply chain. While Pascar and others were ‘petty sellers’, we suspect Akka either supplied the illicit liquor or was part of the transportation chain,” a senior police officer said.

“To avoid suspicion, Pascar had stored the liquor at the bottom of a wooden container and stacked vegetables on top. The liquor was brewed deep in Aarey Colony, but the exact location is yet to be determined,” another police official said. Pascar is believed to have been caught by the excise department twice in a decade.

The preliminary test report indicates that methanol was added to the country-made liquor, thereby making it lethal. “Bootleggers mix methanol in the country-made liquor to increase its potency,” added the source.

Back in Lakshmi Nagar, the arrested accused had gained notoriety as bootleggers. Raju Pascar is known as Raju Langda, as he was afflicted by polio at birth. According to the police, Langda had distributed the liquor in a shack inside Lakshmi Nagar, while Patel and Harte had supplied the alcohol to him.

In the slum, Mamta’s neighbours claimed that she and her family fled early on Thursday morning. Excise officials who entered Mamta’s unlocked home found a TV set, a large refrigerator and stacks of clothes inside. Although the house had seen no activity since early Thursday, the tubelights and fans were still on. The officials looked for more liquids in the house and took a sample from a Bisleri water bottle found inside the toilet.

Meanwhile, Maria said that deputy commissioners of police and senior police inspectors would face strict disciplinary action if illicit liquor was found in their jurisdictions.