Police arrest hooch kingpin in Tamil Nadu

TRAGEDY STRIKES: The prime suspect, Sounder Rajan fled after the illicit liquor disaster broke out in Devarajeevanahally.

Other stories in the section:

Govt loses Ajit and Gowda but fight not over

Ajit Singh and Deve Gowda decide to nuke UPA on July 22.

• Gowda and son snub Govt, choose UNPA

Featured Blog

Suhasini Haidar

Don't bunk History class, if you want to pass Math

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• Govt loses Ajit and Gowda but fight not over
• Gowda and son snub Govt, choose UNPA

Keywords: Sounder Rajan, Illicit Liquor

Bangalore: After four days of intense search, City Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths succeeded in arresting Sounder Rajan, the prime suspect in the hooch tragedy in the city which claimed more than 60 lives on Thursday.

Highly placed police sources said that Sounder Rajan, who had been hiding in Dharmapuri along with his wife, has been taken into custody and is being brought to the city.

Sounder Rajan fled after the illicit liquor disaster broke out in Devarajeevanahally, one of the thickly populated slums in Bangalore, where majority of labourers live, they said.

Even after Karnataka imposed ban on arrack, Rajan, believed to be the main trader in illicit liquor, and had been carrying on the business, the source said.

All those who died after drinking the poisonous brew, which had higher content of methanol, had purchased it from the outlet illegally run by Rajan.

Police said with seven more people were succumbing in the hospital on Thursday in Bangalore rural.

The illicit liquor tragedy has claimed 129 lives in parts of the city, Bangalore rural and Kolar district.

The police have nabbed 18 people in connection with the hooch tragedy in Bangalore Rural district.

The government has placed 26 officials under suspension , including nine from the excise department, on charges of dereliction of duty.