A key accused in the Madhya Pradesh spurious liquor case, which has claimed 16 lives, was arrested early Friday after an encounter with police in Sagar district, an official said.
Ravi Lakhera, 45, suffered a bullet injury to his leg during the exchange of fire, while two accomplices travelling with him on a motorcycle managed to escape, Additional Superintendent of Police Jayveer Bahdoriya said.
Police intercepted Lakhera in the Baraytha forest, around 40 km from the Sagar district headquarters, following which an exchange of fire took place, the official said.
Lakhera was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, for treatment, Bahdoriya told PTI over the phone. Police sources said his condition was stable.
Lakhera is alleged to have been involved in manufacturing spurious liquor with licensed liquor contractor Manish Lodhi, alias Yashwant Singh Lodhi. The liquor was allegedly distributed through peddlers in Sagar district.
The spurious liquor has left 16 people dead, while 32 others are undergoing treatment at various hospitals. Of the 30 people named as accused, 16 have been arrested and one detained, officials said.
Lakhera, a resident of Gangapuram Colony in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district, has around 25 criminal cases registered against him in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, mainly under the Excise Act, police sources said. He originally belongs to Mahoba district, where his parents live.
He was also wanted in a 2025 case registered at Baheriya police station in Sagar in connection with alleged illegal liquor brewing, the sources said.
Police sources alleged that Lakhera was experienced in liquor manufacturing and in procuring materials used in its production. He is also accused of operating a team involved in making spurious liquor.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has ordered a judicial inquiry into the hooch deaths. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has accused the Madhya Pradesh government of protecting the liquor mafia and questioned an earlier claim by the Sagar superintendent of police that the spurious liquor had been supplied from Lalitpur.
(With inputs from PTI)
