ALIGARH HOOCH TRAGEDY: KEY ACCUSED HELD

The key accused in last month’s Aligarh hooch tragedy, which has claimed nearly 50 lives so far, was arrested early on Sunday, police said.

The accused, Rishi Sharma, was arrested near the Bulandshahr border in western Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh senior superintendent of police Kalanidhi Naithani said.

Sharma was named in 13 cases in connection with the liquor tragedy and was absconding for the past ten days, the official said. The arrest came a day after the police increased the reward on his arrest from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

The search for Sharma was extended to half neighbouring states and several districts. “Police raids were being conducted in Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for the past 10 days. Police had monitored 500 call details, about 100 informers were activated and six police teams were constituted to nab Rishi Sharma,” Naithani said.

Sharma’s wife, son, two brothers and a nephew were arrested in the last five days.

“We have already arrested Vipin Yadav, carrying a reward of ₹50,000, Anil Chaudhary and his brother-in-law Neeraj Chaudhary, carrying a reward of ₹25,000, Munish Sharma (Rishi Sharma’s brother), carrying a reward of ₹25,000 and one Shiv Kumar,” he added.

Nearly 50 people have died in Aligarh since consuming spurious liquor on two different occa