Investigate ties between DMK MLAs and illicit liquor sellers: Anbumani tells govt
Three people were arrested for selling spurious liquor in Karunapuram and 200 litres of pocket liquor that contained high levels of methanol were seized.
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss
CHENNAI: Expressing that the government and the police have failed in curbing hooch sales, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday urged the state government to investigate the relationship of DMK MLAs with illicit liquor traders. His statement comes in the wake of the deaths of over 35 people in Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district who had consumed illicit liquor mixed with methanol on Wednesday.
Within hours yesterday, the state government transferred the district collector and suspended the SP along with other officials. Three people were arrested for selling spurious liquor in Karunapuram and 200 litres of pocket liquor that contained high levels of methanol were seized.
In his statement, Anbumani said that the government should have learned its lesson when a similar incident occurred last year in the state where over 30 persons had died. "Instead, the government tried to bury the Karunapuram incident fearing the issue would be raised by the opposition in the Assembly. Transferring the district collector and suspending the SP are the right move but it is not sufficient. The main reason for deaths was the support provided by DMK persons to the hooch sellers," he alleged.
He further alleged that the production of hooch was underway in the Kalvarayan Hills area. "Even if the police arrest the hooch sellers there, Rishivandiyam MLA Vasantham Karthikeyan and Sankarapuram MLA Udhayasuriyan, who are supporters of minister EV Velu, will ensure their release. In the recent past, police officials, who refused to allow hooch sales, were transferred," the PMK leader claimed.
Anbumani also alleged that that one of the arrested persons from Karunapuram, Kannukutty alias Govindaraj, had erected a banner congratulating DMK MP Malaiarasan for winning from Kallakurichi constituency in the Lok Sabha election. "After the deaths, the banner was removed. Maruvur Raja, who was involved in last year's hooch deaths, had links with minister Gingee Masthan," Anbumani said, urging the government to investigate the links between Kannukutty and DMK MLAs.