A man who is said to be the mastermind behind the manufacturing and sale of spurious liquor that killed nearly 80 people in Bihar’s Chapra has been arrested from Dwarka area, the Delhi Police said on Saturday.
Accused Ram Babu Mahto was nabbed on Friday night, a senior police officer told The New Indian.
A native of Doula village in Saran district, Ram Babu had been on the run soon after the police launched a manhunt to nab the perpetrators of the hooch tragedy. As many as 80 people lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor in Chapra earlier this month.
Mahto was booked under sections 272, 273, 328, 308, 304, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and 30-A/33/34 of the Bihar Excise Act, 2016 at Isuapur Police Station in Chapra. Another FIR was registered against him at Mashrak police station.
ALSO READ: Bihar hooch case cracked: ‘Doctor’ & Delhi drug firm meds made spurious liquor
As his liquor started killing people, Mahto went underground and shifted his locations several times before fleeing the state. “The input was worked upon quickly by a dedicated team to nab him at the earliest,” the police said.
Speaking to The New Indian, special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Yadav said that a dedicated team of Inter-State Cell of the Crime Branch, Chankyapuri under the supervision of ACP Ramesh Chander Lamba and DCP Vichitra Veer was formed based on a specific input about the movement of Mahto in Delhi.
Mahto is a class 8th pass-out and has four brothers and two sisters. During the police interrogation, Mahto said that his family is living in poor financial conditions. He sensed an opportunity to make some quick money when the Nitish Kumar government banned the sale and purchase of liquor in the state and started manufacturing and sale of liquor.
The police said that he has been involved in several offences related to liquor prohibition in Bihar.
The Delhi Police has informed its counterparts in Bihar about Mahto’s arrest. He will be handed over to the Bihar Police soon, said an officer.
On December 23, the police in Saran arrested five people from his gang and claimed that they made liquor using homoeopathic medicines containing more than 90 per cent alcohol. The liquor became poisonous due to a mistake during the manufacturing process.
However, the Saran Police had called accused Rajesh Singh alias ‘Doctor’ as the mastermind of the gang.