Hooch tragedy: Punjab cops nab 2 absconding accused; add murder charge in FIRs

The Punjab Police Friday arrested two absconding key accused in the hooch tragedy, while also added murder charge in the FIRs against all the kingpins in the case.

On the directive of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) has been added to the FIRs against the kingpins directly responsible for the hooch tragedy deaths, DGP Dinkar Gupta said.

With the latest arrests -- the father-son duo Harjit Singh and Shamsher Singh alias Shera of Pandori Gola, Tarn Taran -- the total number of arrests in the case has gone up to 54 -- 37 in Tarn Taran, nine in Amritsar Rural and eight in Batala.

The hooch tragedy has claimed 121 lives which included 92 in Tarn Taran, 15 in Amritsar and 14 in Gurdaspur, said the Chief Minister, who met the families of the victims in Tarn Taran on Friday morning.

He said it was not an accident but "murder", for which the culprits will be given strict punishment.

Harjit Singh and Shamsher have also been booked on murder charges, apart from Kashmir Singh and Satnam Singh alias Satta, said the DGP in a late evening statement. In addition, two FIRs have been registered under various provisions of the IPC for harbouring the criminals involved in the case and another 21 persons have been arrested in this connection.

More than 887 raids have been conducted since July 31, when the first deaths in the case were reported, in the three affected districts.

While Harjit was nabbed by Amritsar (Rural) police, which has registered one FIR, his son was apprehended by Tarn Taran police, which has registered three FIRs.

Two FIRs have been registered in Batala.

The father-son duo were arrested after coordinated raids, the DGP said.

“The two accused have confirmed disclosure of Satnam (also son of Harjit) that they had bought 3 drums of spurious liquor from Avtar Singh on 27th July at Pandori Gola.

“Harjit Singh paid Rs. 15,000 to Avtar Singh around 15 days before the delivery, when the deal was settled, while another Rs. 15,000 was paid to him on the day of the delivery. The duo have identified 13 more persons allegedly involved in the case and raids were being conducted to nab them,” the DGP said.

Meanwhile, the state-wide raids as part of the crackdown on illicit liquor business are continuing with 116 more cases registered and 74 persons arrested in the past 24 hours, he said.