Bhavnagar Spurious Liquor Case: Gujarat SMC Arrest Mastermind From Agra

The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) has arrested the suspected mastermind of a lethal spurious liquor ring from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, following a toxic methanol outbreak in Bhavnagar that claimed 13 lives and left over 60 people ill.

A special SMC team raided a hideout in Agra to apprehend the accused, identified as Umed, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to 38. Umed was brought to Gujarat under tight security and produced before a local court in Bhavnagar, which remanded him in police custody for seven days.

Investigators revealed a dangerous shift in bootlegging tactics: rather than adulterating country-made liquor, the syndicate had blended high-purity methanol directly into fake bottles of foreign-branded alcohol to boost profit margins.

Interstate Supply Network Uncovered

Interrogations indicate that Umed operated an extensive network, supplying toxic industrial chemicals not just to local bootleggers in Bhavnagar, but to illicit bottling units operating across multiple districts in Gujarat and neighbouring states.

SMC officials confirmed that interrogation during the seven-day remand period will focus on mapping the full distribution chain, identifying raw chemical suppliers, and tracing financial transactions linked to the broader bootlegging network.

14 Accused Remanded to Judicial Custody

Meanwhile, 14 suspects previously remanded in connection with the primary case registered at Vartej police station—including key local operators Gautam Solanki and Raish Ansari—have been remanded to judicial custody after the police concluded their initial field interrogations.

The deaths have triggered widespread public anger across Bhavnagar, prompting state enforcement agencies to conduct sweeping checks on chemical distribution firms and industrial solvent dealers to prevent further diversion of regulated substances into the illegal liquor trade.