INDORE: Police investigating the deaths allegedly caused by spurious liquor in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district have arrested state Congress spokesperson Anand Jain Kasliwal on charges of abetment and tampering with evidence, officials said on Tuesday.
His son, Aman Kasliwal, was arrested last week on charges of supplying chemicals to a liquor gang leader.
Dewas Kotwali police station in-charge Shashikant Chaurasia said evidence of the Indore-based Congress leader's involvement emerged during the investigation. "A private firm that supplied chemicals to liquor gang leader Ajay Rathore is ostensibly in the name of Anand Kasliwal's son, Aman, but the firm was actually operated and supervised by Anand Jain Kasliwal," he said.
According to Chaurasia, when police summoned people associated with the firm after media reports on the toxic liquor case, Anand Kasliwal allegedly told workers to delete chemical stock records. He was arrested under the Excise Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
After the arrest, he complained of high blood pressure and was admitted to Dewas Civil Hospital on doctors' advice, the official said.
Before his arrest, Kasliwal had said his son was innocent and that the family firm had supplied 220 litres of paint thinner to a customer on a valid bill.
Villagers say at least 10 people died in Chandana, Binjana and nearby areas between September 27 and October 16. State Congress president Jitu Patwari has claimed 22 deaths and damage to the eyesight of at least 40 people. The investigation began after the district hospital reported two deaths in Chandana on October 15 and 18.
According to police, the main accused, Ajay Rathore, used artificial intelligence to work out how to make liquor at home, procured chemicals from an Indore firm, mixed them with water and bottled the brew in empty licensed bottles bought from scrap dealers before selling it locally.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)