Gujarat: Two more punished with 10-year jail in 2009 hooch tragedy

AHMEDABAD: A city sessions court here on Monday held two more persons guilty in the 2009 hooch tragedy case and punished them with 10-year imprisonment. The conviction is with regard to an FIR registered in Kagdapith police station, where 34 persons were reportedly dead after consuming spurious liquor.
With these two convictions, total number of people punished in this case is now 12. Earlier in March, the court had held 10 persons guilty and punished them with jail terms. However, two accused – Jayesh Thakkar and Yogendra Sisodiya alias Daddu Chhara – were absconding when the trial court delivered its verdict and hence they could not be punished. They were brought to court later. It was established that they were involved in manufacturing and supplying spurious liquor in the city, and hence punished severely.
Besides Thakkar and Chhara, two others were convicted to 10-year jail term by this court. They are Vinod Thakkar alias Dagri and Arvind alias Ghanshyam Talpada.
The court, however, has not punished anybody for murder because the charge could not be proved. As a knee-jerk reaction to this hooch tragedy, in which nearly 150 persons had died, Gujarat government made the Prohibition Act more stringent and added the provision of death penalty in case of hooch tragedy. The accused were acquitted in section 302 of the IPC but convicted under section 304 Part II of the IPC. The prosecution examined 321 witnesses in this case.
The court has recorded these convictions in connection with an offence registered with Kagdapith police station. Thirty-four deaths were reported here in the surrounding areas between July 9 and 12, 2009. In this case, 34 persons faced the trial and 12 accused have been conviction, who include eight women. The women convicts were punished with 1-year jail term for selling spurious liquor.
In July 2009, there were nearly 150 persons who lost their lives after consuming liquor. Besides a case in Kagdapith police station, another FIR was lodged in Odhav police station, where more than 100 persons had died. The court is likely to deliver its verdict on Saturday against 39 accused in the second case.