At least 28 people have died and 40 are battling for their lives in Gujarat after they consumed spurious country made liquor at Rojid village in Botad district of the State. A woman Gajuben Pravinbhai Vaddariya from Rojid village has been arrested for mixing the chemical with country made liquor. The police has seized, 12 litres of what they have described as a “colourless chemical” in her possession. FSL reports say the chemical is Methyl Alcohol. Those admitted also include 12 in Ahmedabad civil hospital besides Sir T Hospital in Bhavnagar and Sonawala Hospital in Botad. Over 6 people have reportedly lost their kidneys and require dialysis following which they have been shifted to Ahmedabad civil.
The Barwala police have registered police complaint against 14 people including Gajuben. The others include four other bootleggers and those who facilitated the transport and purchase of chemicals. Gujarat has had prohibition since the formation of the State in 1960 but prohibition has more cosmetic value than concrete implementation in Gujarat, especially in rural Gujarat.
Madhuben Vaghela, the mother Deepak Ranchhodlal who is battling for his life at Sonawala hospital in Botad town categorically told Vibes of India, “my son is an alcoholic. He cannot live without alcohol. Every day whether it is Sunday or Monday, he drinks either at Chokdi village or Rojid village and comes home dead drunk. I don’t know what is there in the liquor he drinks but he drinks every night and had been drunk on Monday also”. Madhuben is like several other women who do not know that there is prohibition in Gujarat. When Vibes of India told her, she said, but if you say that alcohol cannot be made or sold in Gujarat, how come it is so easily available in milk pouches in my village”.
Crying uncontrollably when informed that her son could die because he has consumed chemicals, Madhuben said, “no my son drank alcohol. It could have chemicals but he did not drink any chemical”.
This comes amidst efforts by certain policemen whom Vibes of India spoke to. They claimed that the 27 men who have died and 40 who have taken ill have not consumed alcohol but direct methanol. The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have rightly said that the Gujarat government, to hide its failure of not controlling the thriving alcohol and country made liquor business in the State is now attempting to convert this hooch tragedy into a Chemical Tragedy.
“There could be chemical in the desi daaru that these people drank but it is not possible that they just drank the chemical” a policeman told Vo!.
Meanwhile, after not acting promptly, the Ahmedabad crime branch, late on Monday night nabbed Jayesh aka Raju from a chemical factory in Aslali in Ahmedabad district. Over 450 litres of methyl has been seized from him. A trio of this Raju along with one Pintu and Sanjay are believed to have supplied about 600 litres of Methanol for the industrial purpose to a bootlegger in Barwala. Barwala is in Botad district. Spurious liquor is believed to have been made in Barwala or in Rojid village or Chokdi village. These two are the main liquor dens in Barwala.
This is to undermine liquor dens all across Gujarat. Prohibition in Gujarat has more cosmetic than any concrete value.
A woman bootlegger in Rojid village is believed to be running a liquor den from where these men purchased their daily stock. COuntry-made liquor in Gujarat is mostly packed in used milk pouches which are picked up from homes by trash collectors. Gujaratis sell their used milk pouches for Rs 15 per kilo.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil, and independent MLA Jignesh Mewani criticised the government silence since Monday evening when primary news of 11 dead first trickled in. ” Now, Gujarat government is trying to hide the prevalence of alcohol in Gujarat by dubbing this hooch tragedy into a chemical tragedy. This is a very unfortunate thing. At such a sad hour, Gujarat government should not play politics”, they said.
Anti Terrorist Squad of Gujarat government besides State police are camping in Botad district where the tragedy has taken place.
Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia will be briefing the media on the issue at around 1 pm.
Over 40 men are battling for their lives at Sir T hospital in Bhavnagar which is about 93 kilometres away from Botad. Several relatives have thronged the Bhavnagar hospital. Arvind Kejriwal is expected to reach Bhavnagar after 1.30 pm to take stock of the situation.
No BJP leader was ready or available to comment on the issue. One BJP leader admitted that they could not comment because they were waiting for direction on what “angle” to speak on. This leader, a former Minister in Vijay Rupani cabinet said that “we all know it is a hooch tragedy. People drank alcohol. Desi daru which is country-made liquor. A certain amount of chemical is always used in country made liquor but to blatantly say that the people drank chemical only is underestimating the intellegence of the people”.
According to Government sources, one Jayesh who has now been arrested by Ahmedabad Crime Branch stole the chemical and sold it to a bootlegger who served it instead of alcohol. Government sources are also claiming that a woman home guard belonging to a minority community facilitated this chemical transportation from Jayesh to the bootlegger. However, Vibes of India could not confirm this.
At about 11.30 am, the list of the dead , declared by hospital authorities in Botad included the following names.
(1) Vashrambhai Shantibhai Parmar ( Rojid)
(2) Dhanshyambhai Velshibhai (Rojid)
(3) Baldevbhai Harjibhai Makwana (Aniyali)
(4) Himmatbhai Maganbhai Vadadaria (Aniyali)
(5) Rameshbhai Maganbhai Vadadaria (Aniyali)
(6) Kishanbhai Mavjibhai Chawda (Akru)
(7) Bhaveshbhai Mavjibhai Chavda ( Akru)
(8) Pravinbhai Babubhai Kunwariya (Akru)
(9) Arvindbhai Nanjibhai Sitapara (Chandarwa)
(10) Irshadbhai Fakirbhai Qureshi (Chandarwa)
(11) Jayantibhai Chekhlia (Uchdi)
(12) Gagjibhai Mohanbhai Chekhlia (Uchdi)
(13) Bhupat Zinga ( Raujid )
(14) Dinesh Vahan Viram
Vibes of India has a copy of the FIR filed by the police in Barwala. The FIR has been filed on Tuesday at 7.30 am. The FIR filed on Tuesday only clearly admits that all the dead were “used to drinking alcohol”. They were regular at Gajuben’s den at Rojid village. On interrogation, Gajuben told the police that she purchased 20 litres of chemical from Pintu Devipujak and she paid Rs 2000 for the same. Gajuben has confessed that she missed this chemical with water(there is no mention or confession that she made country-made liquor out of it). Gajuben has confessed that she sold pouches containing this chemical to 10 people on Monday at different times. She said she also sold this to 25 other people and maybe more. The names of people she has said , she sold in pouches are:
Police working under the direct supervision of Nirlipt Rai has confiscated the stock at Gajuben’s house and sent it to Forensics Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar. The FIR says that those who consumed this chemical were drunkards but nowhere in the FIR is it mentioned that Gajuben manufactured country-made liquor.
Pintu Rasikbhai who supplied the chemical has informed the police that he purchased this from Vinod alias Funto Bhikhabhai Kumarkhaniya, Sanjay Bhikhabhai and Haresh Vala. Pintu said he purchased 200 litres of this chemical from them. “I mixed water with this chemical and I made five litre packs of these and sold it to Gajuben of Rojid, Jatubha of Ranpara, Bijal alias Lalo of Papadhiyar, Bhavan Narayan of Vaiya village and Sunny Ratilal of Polapur village. The three acussed who sold to Pintu purchased this from Jayesh alias Raju from Ahmedabad. Raju in turn is from Aslali in Ahmedabad. Raju sent this chemical in a loading chhakdo ( three wheeler rickshaw prevalent in Gujarat). On interogating Sanjay Bhikhalal, he told the polcie that we purchased 600 litres of chemical from Raju in Ahmedabad. Naseeb Chhanalal brought this chemical in Mahindra jeep number G J 33T0706 at Narmada canal near Bhalgaam. From there the chemical was shifted to loading rickshaw. On detaining Raju, he told the police that a factory chowkidar Dinesh stole this chemical from an industrial unit in Aslali and sold it to him. Pintu said five of them packed this chemical in different containers and loaded in the chhakda. Pintu said he kept 200 litres of the chemical.Remaining 200 litres was given to Ajit Dileep and remaining 200 litres to Vinod Bhikhalal.
The police in the FIR has said that ten people died after consuming this chemical. They admit that several others in the nearby village also consumed the chemical. The police has said that the FSL report says the chemical has 98.71% Methyl Alcohol (mark K) and 98.99% of Methyl Alchol (mark LL).
AAP party supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “
It is sad that in Gujarat more than 23 people have died and more than 40 people are in the hospital due to spurious liquor. I pay homage to all the deceased and am going to Bhavnagar Hospital today to express my condolences to the victims in this hour of grief.”
Independent MLA from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani says that the government wants to reduce this matter into a chemical case just to safeguard their image. “Despite Gujarat being called the land of Gandhi and Sardar, this is what we find–illegal liquor business in every nook and corner of Gujarat. Politicians, police and bootleggers are equal partners in running this modus operandi.”
Rajyasabha MP and senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said,
“The sarpanch of Rojid village personally went to the police station to stop the sale of spurious liquor. He even filed a complaint but despite it, no actions were taken. Are the liquor dens running at the mercy of the government and installments to police?”
