DEHRADUN: After residents of Pathariya Peer in Dehradun, where six men died of consuming spurious alcohol last week, issued a 48 hours ultimatum to district police and state government the police arrested main accused on Monday.
Interestingly, the main accused is identified as a Bhartiya Janta Party member Ajay Sonkar. The partner of the accused had contested municipal elections for the ward on the party's ticket.
Arun Mohan Joshi, senior superintendent of police, Dehradun said, "We have arrested Ajay Sonkar, the main accused in the matter. Raids are on to arrests more persons and soon we will get the too".
Earlier, following the deaths, a magisterial inquiry was ordered. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had vowed to hunt down the accused as he said that the police will get these people even from the 'Pataal' (The Underworld).
"We will not spare anyone, no matter who the person is. Instructions have been passed on to raid such spots and end the menace of illicit alcohol from the state. My government bus committed for the welfare of people," said the CM.
However, the BJP refused to acknowledge Sonkar as a member of the party. Munna Singh Chauhan, BJP MLA and speaker for the party said, "He is not associated with the party. Even if he was, we would never tolerate anything like this."
The women of the locality have decided to patrol the area to prevent the sale of illicit alcohol.
The six deceased were identified as Rajendra (45), Lalla (35), Saran (58) who died on Thursday while the other three who lost their lives on Friday were identified as Akash (23), Suresh (40) and Inder Kumar (50). Total 10 people are still being treated in hospitals.