Excise Dept To Seek Custody Of Prime Accused In Pune Hooch Tragedy

Pune: The Maharashtra state excise department’s Pune division is set to initiate steps to secure the custodial interrogation of Yogesh Wankhede, the prime accused in the Pune hooch tragedy, sources said on Wednesday.

Wankhede is in the custody of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) until June 8. Sources said the excise department is expected to move the court soon seeking his custody for further investigation.

“Three accused questioned in the case have stated that Wankhede, with whom they had been associated for over four years, supplied liquor to them,” a senior officer from the state excise department’s Pune division said.

The excise department had arrested Akash Jadhav, Irfan Nisar Qureshi and Aryan Sanjay Dhotre in connection with the case. Qureshi’s custody was taken over by the CID on Tuesday.

The excise department is conducting a parallel investigation alongside the police probe to uncover the full extent of the illegal liquor network linked to the tragedy.

The Pune hooch tragedy that claimed 20 lives has triggered a large-scale crackdown on illegal liquor manufacturing and distribution across the region.

The CID on Wednesday arrested Arun Jagadamb Chaoubey, 59, and his son Abhishekh Arun Chaoubey, 34, of Vashigaon in Navi Mumbai. A court in Pimpri remanded the duo to four days of police custody. The duo was booked following a complaint filed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their alleged involvement in the sale of methanol suspected to have been used in the spurious liquor linked to the tragedy.

The probe agency confirmed that 20 people, including 16 from Dapodi and four from Hadapsar area, died in the incident.