Culprit in Mumbai hooch tragedy arrested in city

Altogether eight persons have been caught till now

A 24-year-old man has been arrested in north-east Delhi’s Jaffrabad in connection with the Malwani hooch tragedy which left 102 people dead and 46 still under treatment at various hospital in Mumbai.

He was hiding at one of his friends’ place and was nabbed during a joint operation carried out by Delhi and Mumbai police.

Eight persons have been arrested in the case so far.
Mansoor Khan alias Ateeq, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district, is believed to be the prime suspect in the tragedy.

Police said Mansoor had supplied a chemical, believed to be methanol, to distributors Francis D’Mello and Salim Shaikh.

“Mansoor will be handed over to Mumbai Police after being produced before a court on Wednesday,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Veenu Bansal.
The accused will be produced in east Delhi’s Karkardooma Court where Mumbai Police will seek his transit remand.

The arrest was made after the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police approached Delhi Police with information about Mansoor’s possible hideout in north-east Delhi’s Jaffrabad.
In Mumbai, Mansoor had been staying in Malwani with his wife.

They fled Mumbai on learning that police were making arrests over the deaths. Sources said the couple travelled by road with a stopover in Gujarat.

“We established that Mansoor’s friend lived at a JJ cluster in Jaffrabad. A raid was conducted to nab him at 12.30 pm on Tuesday,” Bansal added.

On being questioned, Mansoor’s friend told police that he came to the house on Sunday. Mansoor, however, did not inform him about the police search or the involvement in the tragedy.

Police are also looking to nab a Gujarat-based businessman for supplying methanol to Mansoor.

He used to procure methanol from Ahmedabad and distribute it in Mumbai.
Mansoor’s father had first entered the trade after which he was introduced a few years ago.

Mumbai Police had earlier arrested seven persons and seized over 1,000 litres of spurious liquor.