Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad hooch tragedy: Accused mixed country-made liquor with methanol ordered online, say cops

Pune: The spurious liquor that proved deadly for 15 people in Phugewadi and Hadapsar was a mix of country-made liquor and methanol by accused Yogesh Vhankade (23) of Mundhwa, investigations by the Pimpri Chinchwad police have revealed.

An officer from the Pimpri Chinchwad crime branch told TOI that Vhankade had ordered the methanol online from a known e-commerce website. “He had last week purchased five cans of country-made liquor from Radheshyam Prajapati (35), who runs illegal manufacturing dens of the tipple in the Uruli Kanchan area,” the officer said.

He said Vhankade diluted the liquor sourced from Prajapati with methanol near a toddy shop in the Khadki area so that he could earn more money. “Vhankade claimed that he decided to mix the methanol with the liquor to increase its intoxicating effect after dilution,” the officer said.

Vhankade sold the spurious liquor to Karnail Singh Virka (73) of Phugewadi, who has allegedly been selling country-made liquor from his house illegally for the past 40 years. “Most of the victims who lost their lives had purchased the spurious liquor from Virka,” the officer said.

Vhankade had also sold the spurious liquor to another seller in the Khadki area.

Deputy commissioner of police (Zone-I) Sandip Atole of the Pimpri Chinchwad police told TOI that the police had established the entire chain, from the illegal country-made liquor manufacturer to the sellers. “The four arrested accused have been remanded in police custody till June 8,” he said.

Along with Vhankade, the police on Friday arrested Virka, his son Gurumangatsingh Virka (45) and Prajapati. The state excise department took three accused, namely Akash Jadhav of Hadapsar, Irfan Qureshi of Khadki and Aryan Dhotre of Gokhalenagar, into custody. They have also been remanded in police custody.

Later in the day, the police also arrested Virka’s wife Inderjeet Kaur Virka (60) and Kalpesh Agarwal (29) of Khadki. They will be produced before the court on Saturday.

Virka threw liquor into gutter after death reports: Neighbour

Liquor seller Karnail Singh Virka allegedly emptied cans of the spurious tipple into a gutter outside his house in Phugewadi after reports of deaths emerged from the area. “Within seconds, our area was filled with the smell of liquor,” Yogesh Mirpagar, Virka’s neighbour, told TOI.

Mirpagar said Virka and his family had been selling liquor for the past 40 years from their house. People frequently visited his home and consumed liquor there.

“Virka owned two rooms next to our house, where he stored liquor. His supplier used to visit our area in the early hours and hide the cans in the rooms. Every day, people would start coming from early in the morning to buy liquor,” Mirpagar said.

Yallappa Valdor, another resident of the area, said everyone knew that the Virka family sold liquor from their house. “But such a tragedy has happened in our area for the first time,” Valdor said.