Amritsar spurious liquor tragedy: WhatsApp chats of kingpin helped crack case
WhatsApp chats of the prime accused in the Amritsar liquor tragedy case not only helped the police in establishing the crime trail but also led to the seizure of 600 litres of methanol, a chemical used in the manufacturing of illicit liquor.
Sahib Singh, the prime accused, had directly ordered the methanol from Ludhiana and Delhi firms.
The police said he had initially purchased 50 litres of methanol from the Ludhiana firm that was used in the manufacturing of the spurious liquor, the consumption of which led to the tragedy.
He had also placed an order for the purchase of 600 litres of methanol, which was seized from a truck by the police in Patiala’s Banur on Tuesday while the consignment was being taken from Delhi to Amritsar.
Sahib Singh had even made a payment of Rs 35,000 to Bharat Heavy Chemicals in Delhi for it.
The police have arrested owners of both Ludhiana and Delhi firms.
Deputy Inspector General (Border Range) Satinder Singh, who was accompanied by SSP (Amritsar Rural) Maninder Singh, told reporters that the police had arrested distributors of illicit liquor Prabhjit Singh and his brother Kulbir Singh.
“We got strong technical evidence from the cellphone of Sahib Singh. His WhatsApp chats revealed that he had procured around 50 litres of methanol from a Ludhiana firm, and also ordered 600 litres of the chemical from the Delhi firm,” said DIG.
Following this, the police arrested two owners of the Ludhiana-based firm, Arvinder Kumar and Pankaj Kumar.
The police teams were immediately dispatched to Delhi, leading to the arrest of Ravinder Kumar Jain and Rajiv Kumar Jain there.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Sahib Singh had handed over a container of methanol to Prabhjit and Kulbir, who sold it further to distributors after dilution.
Following the incident, he switched off his phone and went into hiding but was arrested by the police within hours of the incident.
He has around 10 cases of Excise Act against him.
GST bills helped track illicit trade in Majitha
Meanwhile, official said two GST bills of the purchase made by Sahib Singh also helped blew the lid off the illicit liquor business in the Majitha area.
A senior functionary of the Excise Department said the GST bills helped them track the truck that was bringing methanol from Delhi.
Cheema urges Centre to regulate use of methanol
Punjab Finance and Excise Minister Harpal Cheema wrote to Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, urging him to take immediate action to regulate the use of methyl alcohol (methanol) under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.
Cheema said the physical appearance, odour and sedative properties of methanol closely resembled that of ethyl alcohol (ethanol), making it a silent killer when diverted to the illicit liquor supply chain.
He stressed that the present legal framework did not sufficiently address the supply chain vulnerabilities of this substance, nor it mandated tracking mechanisms, registration of buyers or cross-state regulation.
