ONGOLE: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), appointed to probe sanitiser deaths case in Kurichedu village of Prakasam district, has reportedly entered the final phase of its investigation.
It may be noted that the SIT has already arrested five persons involved in the racket, including the owner of an illegal sanitiser manufacturing unit at Jeedimetla near Hyderabad of Telangana, and the raw material suppliers.
According to sources, the SIT will soon produce all the culprits involved in the unauthorised manufacture and marketing of sanitiser, made with Methyl alcohol (CH3OH) instead of Ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH). Meanwhile, the SIT sleuths are also searching for the distributor, who sold the sanitisers to medical shops of Darsi, Kurichedu and other villages of Prakasam district.
Speaking to TNIE, a police officer said that presently, the accused are being interrogated to know clues about the distributor.
The SIT will reveal the full details of the investigation to the media in a couple of days, he added.
According to sources, the sanitiser was manufactured illegally in a five-room godown shed located near Jeedimetla. The owner, who passed Class III, does not even know the scientific names (formula) of the dangerous content he is mixing in the sanitiser.
He learnt making sanitiser by watching videos on YouTube and sold it under the brand name ‘Perfect Hand Sanitiser’. Later, he named them after a North Indian pharma company’s label.
The accused allegedly agreed that he used Methyl alcohol in the sanitiser and was not aware of the chemical, which would be fatal if consumed.