Cheap ‘methanol’ common factor behind Sangrur, earlier incidents

Tribune News Service

Aman Sood

Patiala, March 23

As many as 36 recent FIRs registered in Sangrur, Mohali, Ghanaur, Shambhu and Rajpura where seizure of chemicals was made by authorities will be “thoroughly probed” by the SIT.

There are few similarities in the Sangrur deaths with that of Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur spurious liquor deaths in 2020 as methanol or methyl alcohol poisoning is believed to be the main ingredient in preparing the intoxicant. “It seems the same modus operandi to prepare cheap spurious liquor,” said a senior IPS officer.

Already 21 deaths have been reported in past four days, following which the SIT has sought report of recent FIRs in the three districts of Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur where methanol was confiscated.

Patiala range DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar confirmed that the focus would be to identify “the source of lethal methyl alcohol-laced bootleg liquor” and the couriers. “We will seek details of all accused and question them,” said Bhullar, who is also a member of the SIT.

Information gathered by The Tribune reveals that chemicals and ‘lahan’, primarily seized by the police wherein cases under various Sections were registered along with the Excise Act and the accused later managed to get bail “will now be reinvestigated and the accused will be grilled again”. “We will summon all these accused for thorough questioning to ascertain the root source of chemicals reaching bootleggers in Punjab,” confirmed a senior IPS officer.

Currently, methanol is easily available in the market and has many industrial applications, including the manufacture of varnishes, hand sanitisers, hardware and polish among other products.

Sources in the legal liquor trade said after every such tragedy, the police and the Excise Department conduct some raids and make arrests as a knee-jerk reaction. “Instead of regular crackdown, everything is back to normal after the tragedy dies in the media. Such spurious liquor not only causes loss to our trade but also brings a bad name to our trade,” said a liquor contractor.

In the 2020 hooch tragedy in the border districts of Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts in which 140 people had died, the police had later identified a woman kingpin, a transport owner, a wanted criminal and owners/managers of various ‘dhabas’.

Later, the raiding parties seized large quantities of ‘lahan’ from various villages and ‘dhabas’ around Shambhu border, Rajpura and Patiala and had exposed a racket in illicit liquor extending across several districts.

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