Kingpin of Bihar hooch tragedy held in Delhi

NEW DELHI/CHHAPRA: Ram Babu

Mahto

, the alleged mastermind in Bihar's

Saran

hooch case in which 70 people reportedly died last month, was arrested from Delhi's Dwarka on Saturday after a cat-and-mouse chase spanning weeks.
Saran SP Santosh Kumar said Mahto (36) was picked up with the help of

Delhi police

. "He had been changing locations in Delhi," the SP said, adding the accused had been earlier arrested at least six times in illegal liquor cases and had been on bail. In the latest case, Mahto was allegedly involved in mixing homeopathic drugs with spirits to increase their potency and selling them to vendors.
As per Delhi special commissioner (crime) Ravindra Yadav, Bihar police got a tip-off about Mahto's whereabouts, after which special a special teamwas formed to track him down. "Mahto has been handed over (to Bihar police) for further probe," Yadav said.
A Saran resident, Mahto fled to Delhi after at least 70 people died after drinking hooch on December 13 and 14 in the "dry" state. The Nitish government put the toll at 42. This was the worst such tragedy since Bihar enforced prohibition in 2016.

In the past few years, Mahto, a Class 8 dropout, had become a big name in the illicit liquor trade. He belonged to a farming family. "Later, he sensed an opportunity in prohibition to make quick and easy money from spurious liquor," Yadav further said.
Saran SP Kumar said 17 people have so far been arrested in the case, including one Rajesh Singh alias "Doctor" and Shailendra Rai. "Rajesh and Shailendra used to send homeopathic drugs to Mahto. One Sanjai Mahto assisted Mahto. Sanjai had himself consumed spurious liquor but survived. Based on Sanjai's interrogation, we seized many empty bottles of homeopathic drugs and chemicals from the backyard of Mahto's house," he said.