In what can be a matter of major concern for the state government, Harishankar Kahar, the prime suspect in the hooch tragedy, is learnt to have told his investigators that over 1,300 litres of spurious liquor has already been supplied in the city.

The illicit liquor had until Thursday night claimed 95 lives, according to the death count given by the Ahmedabad police control room.

The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of the Ahmedabad police had arrested Kahar from Odhav area late on Wednesday. He was likely to be produced before a local court late on Thursday night.

Sources in the DCB said that Kahar had confessed to having supplied 775 litres of the killer hooch in the city himself. “He has told us that the hooch was sourced from a notorious bootlegger in Mehmedabad in Kheda district. Kahar had alone supplied 20 cans each of 30-litre capacity and 175 litres killer hooch in Odhav, Bapunagar, Rakhiyal and Amraiwadi areas,” said a source in the DCB.

The official added that Arwind Solanki, who had supplied the country-made liquor in Majoor Gam area and died on the first day of the tragedy, might also have sourced the killer brew from Mehmedabad. “This is, however, a matter of investigation,” he added.

This has scary implications, because the spurious liquor distributed across the city could mean more deaths, with many feared unreported across the state. Kahar has further told his investigators that another 18 cans of the same hooch consignment (about 540 litres) were supplied to various other liquor stalls in the city by one of his accomplices.

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