The four arrested in the Slappar spurious liquor tragedy have been identified as Sohan Lal, 27, alias Ravi, 27, from Chhajwar, Maloh, Pradeep Kumar, 47. alias Deep of village Saroh, Jagdish Chand, 53, village Sudhan and Achar Singh, 69, Sudhan, all from Sundernagar tehsil. The accused have political connection as one was a former panchyat pradhan and one was related to the sitting pradhan of the area that has raised all the more concern of the villagers, revealed the villagers, requesting anonymity.
The SIT also raided other locations and seized liquor bottles and incriminatory material from the spot.
The four accused were produced in the court at Sundarnagar where the judge remanded them to the police custody till January 26.
The victims have been identified as Chet Ram, Sudesh Kumar (Slappar), Lal Singh ( Sudhan), Kala Ram (Kangu), Rajneesh Kumar(Kharota). The two victims from the same area succumbed today at the Ner Chowk medical college and while two others were under treatment there.
The government has announced Rs 8 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the victims as the scene of crime at Sundernagar falls in the home district of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
There could be more victims as the accused used to supply the spurious liquor to villagers for the last more than one year under the nose of the excise inspectors and police, charged the villagers.
The SIT has launched manhunt to arrest others in this connection. The police have booked two liquor firms- Santra Brand Desi liquor, VRV foods ltd Sansarpur Terrace, Kangra and Power star fine whisky, industrial area, phase-2 Chandigarh under section 304, 308 and 120 B in an FIR lodged at the police station, Sundarnagar on January 19.
Arvind Digvijay Negi, IPS, a seasoned police officer, who has worked in National Investigation Agency (NIA) and worked upon important cases of national interest, who was also awarded President of India medal for illustrative service twice, has also been made as a member of five-member special investigation team(SIT), headed by the IG Central range Madhu Sudan to bring all the accused to justice in the case.
DGP Sanjay Kundu who is camping at Sundernagar to supervise the investigation said the SIT is investigating in an earnest way.
They have inspected the scene of crime, raided some more suspected places and seized some incriminating material and questioned other suspected persons, he said. “Further investigation is in progress and updates shall be shared in future”, he said.
