AT LEAST 13 men died after consuming suspected spurious liquor in Pimpri Chinchwad area and Pune city, with the police arresting eight persons, including a key bootlegger, in this connection, officials said on Friday. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the incident as “very serious”, and said further action was being taken as the “entire ecosystem” involved in the supply of spurious liquor has been identified. The probe into entire tragedy was transferred to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), a senior official said. Ten persons died in the Phugewadi area of Pimpri Chinchwad, while four others from the Pandhare Mala area in Pune’s Hadapsar succumbed after consuming suspected spurious liquor. Five men suspected of consuming toxic liquor are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Pimpri Chinchwad, police said. A pall of gloom descended on the Phugewadi and Hadapsar areas following the deaths.

 

Dr Basavraj Teli, Joint Commissioner of Police of Pimpri Chinchwad police, said that during the probe, police arrested Karnelsingh Takhtsingh Virka (73), Gurmangatsingh Karnelsingh Virka (45), Yogesh Ramchandra Wankhede (23) and Radhesham Hariram Prajapati (35) in connection with the case. The accused were produced in a local court, which remanded them in police custody till June 8. “They are charged under various sections, including the provision pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. We are in the process of arresting a fifth accused in the case. The other three accused were arrested by the State Excise Department,” Teli said. The official said the investigation into the tragedy was transferred to the CID. Police said the accused allegedly supplied methanol-laced liquor to the Phugewadi area in Pimpri Chinchwad and parts of Pune city. Test reports, which will confirm the exact cause of the deaths, are awaited, police said. Pune Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar said four persons have so far died due to suspected consumption of spurious liquor in Hadapsar.