Man behind liquor deaths held

Shabbir alias Zakir Hussain Momin, the man who is alleged to have sold the potlis of spurious liquor to the victims, was arrested by the crime branch on Saturday.

Hussain was arrested on Friday night, and was admitted to the VS hospital. However, he was not being treated for the spurious liquor. During a raid, the police seized seven litres of methyl alcohol from his house in Khanpur.

Hussain had never been booked in any prohibition case, but was released from the prison a couple of months back for accidentally causing death of a person. The accused sells perfumes in Sunday market near Victoria garden, and sells pani-puri in the area on other days of the week. He has three sisters and four brothers, of which two are mentally retarded.

Police said that Hussain had mixed methyl with water and sold it to few people near Victoria garden. While talking to DNA, Hussain’s sister said that he was an alcoholic, but had never traded liquor. She said that the police are falsely accusing him.

Hussain was arrested from near Palanpur, and the crime branch recorded his statement for over two hours in the hospital. “He was in the Sabarmati jail for allegedly causing death of a person accidentally,” his sister said. He was released a month back from the jail.