MP: Man accused of brewing spurious liquor that killed 16 held after alleged gunfight

A 21-year-old man accused of brewing the spurious liquor that has killed 16 persons in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar was arrested on Sunday, PTI quoted unidentified police officials as saying.

The police claimed that the man, Shivanjay Rajput, was arrested after a gunfight, in which he was injured in the leg. He had allegedly been absconding since the first deaths due to the spurious liquor poisoning were reported on September 5.

Rajput allegedly fired three rounds at the police team during a search operation near Kathua Nala forest area, reported PTI. The police claimed that security personnel opened fire in retaliation.

He was subsequently taken to a hospital and his condition is stable, Sagar police control room in-charge Sub-Inspector RKS Chauhan was quoted as saying by the news agency.

So far, the police have arrested 19 persons accused in the case. Five first information reports have been registered.

Rajput was carrying a bounty of Rs 30,000. The police recovered a country-made .315-bore pistol, three live cartridges, three empty cartridges, a mobile phone and a motorcycle from him, reported PTI.

On Friday, another accused, Ravi Lakhera, was arrested after an alleged gunfight, reported The Hindu.

He had been hiding in a forest in Barayatha village near the Uttar Pradesh border and allegedly opened fire at the police team that had been searching for...

Read more