Panruti hooch tragedy: Man arrested after 23 years

CUDDALORE: A 58-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for supplying methanol to bootleggers at Panruti in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu where a hooch tragedy claimed 53 lives in November 2001. Several people lost their eyesight after drinking the illicit liquor brewed by bootleggers using the methanol supplied by James Bond alias Teja Anand.

After the 2001 tragedy, police booked 22 people under different sections of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act and the IPC and arrested 21 of them. Twelve of them died during the trial, which is still going on.

ADGP S Davidson Devasirvatham and IG (north zone) Asra Garg directed the district police to trace James Bond, who had been absconding, and arrest him.

Cuddalore SP R Rajaram visited Pudupettai police station and gathered information about the case. He formed a special team headed by Pudupettai police inspector Ashokan to nab the absconding man.

The team visited his hometown and inquired with his relatives, but they claimed they were not aware of his whereabouts.

The police tapped the mobile phones of his relatives and learnt that he settled in Tirupur after setting up a grocery store there. The team traced and arrested him.


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