Key accused in hooch tragedy held in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, February 12: Two people have been arrested in connection with the sale of illicit liquor in Roorkee, Uttarakhand. Haridwar SSP J Khanduri said, “They have accepted that they sold illicit liquor in Saharanpur too. They have named another accused in the case. Further investigation is underway.”

 

The accused have been identified as Sardar Hardev Singh and his father Sukhbinder Sukkha who distributed hooch in Saharanpur.

The father-son duo has told the police during preliminary interrogation that they did not manufacture the liquor but bought a 400-litre drum of it from Tejupur village resident Arjun.

The death toll in the twin hooch tragedies in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Uttarakhand has crossed 108, with dozens of people still in the hospital. More than 200 arrests have been made. Forty-nine cases have been registered in Uttarakhand.

The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the hooch deaths and suspended a DSP each in Saharanpur and Kushinagar on charges of dereliction of duty.