All accused in the Malwani hooch tragedy, Maharashtra’s worst ever which killed 104 people last month, would now be booked for murder.
Nine persons, including a Gujarat-based supplier and two women, have been arrested so far while a hunt is on for three others.
The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police on Friday informed a local court that the actions of the hooch tragedy amounted to murder which is why the initially invoked Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC needed to be replaced with the more stringent Section 302 (murder). In addition, they would also be charged with attempting to murder those survivors who had to be hospitalised after consuming diluted methanol.
On the decision to invoke murder charge, Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Crime) Atulchandra Kulkarni said that it was taken after all the medical and forensic reports had been submitted to the police.
Pradeep Gharat, the special public prosecutor, said he hoped the murder charges would stand legal scrutiny because those in the hooch supply chain were well aware of its impact.
