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Inquiry by HC judge into hooch tragedy

D Jose in Trivandrum

The Kerala government Wednesday decided to institute an inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the recent hooch tragedy, which claimed 31 lives in Kollam district.

A special team, headed by Inspector General of Police Sibi Mathew, will be constituted to investigate the case.

The government has sanctioned Rs 30,000 each to the families of those killed and Rs 25,000 each to those who have lost their eyesight.

With the arrest of Hairunnisa alias Thatha, the focus of investigations into the tragedy has shifted to the liquor mafia operating in the state.

Police have information that the spurious liquor responsible for the deaths in Kollam district was supplied from Attingal in Trivandrum district by a certain Manichan.

Though excise officials have conducted several raids on Manichan's residence, they haven't found anything incriminating. Manichan has gone underground with his associates.

Police believe that the liquor supplied from Manichan's Attingal godown was methyl spirit. Methyl spirit, which is cheaper compared to the rectified spirit used for producing arrack, is widely used in Kerala. It is mainly consumed after being mixed with toddy.

Methyl spirit is not very dangerous when mixed with toddy. However, it can be fatal when diluted with water.

Hairunnisa, who was produced before the Munsif's court at Paripally on Wednesday, is considered only a minor link in Manichan's wide network in south Kerala. And there are several Manichans in Kerala.

Several liquor dealers were identified in raids conducted at Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Palakkad districts soon after the Left Democratic Front government came to power in the state in 1996.

However, cases against these dealers were hushed up and officials involved in the raids and subsequent investigations were unceremoniously removed.

District Superintendent of Police Sreelekha, who led the raids at Pathanamthitta in 1997, was offered Rs 20 million to hush up the case. When she did not yield to the inducements, she was shifted out of the district.

District Collector Raju Narayanaswamy, who took on the liquor barons in Thrissur, was shunted out before he could complete his term. He was also implicated in several cases. He has at least half a dozen cases in the Central Administrative Tribunal and other courts now.

The opposition in the state has been accusing the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which heads the LDF government, of maintaining close links with liquor barons. Investments made by several liquor manufacturers/dealers in the party's television venture has come in for sharp criticism from the Congress.

Hairunnisa has publicly admitted she has a stake in the channel. But she has also said that some Congress leaders are her beneficiaries too.

She told reporters immediately after her arrest that a big share of her profits have been going to political parties of all hues.

The CPI-M has denied all the charges calling it a smear campaign.

A statement of the CPI-M state committee said that the government had acted with alacrity to bring those responsible for the hooch tragedy to book.

ALSO SEE
'Liquor queen' held for twin tragedies in Kerala
Hairunnisa alias Thatha: Kerala's liquor queen

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