CHENNAI: In yet another breakthrough in the Kallakurichi hooch incident, police on Sunday midnight arrested five owners of a chemical plant in Madhavaram which reportedly supplied methanol to illicit liquor dealers, resulting in the deaths of over 55 people in Karunapuram area of the district.
According to Thanthi TV, the methanol was supplied by Shree Enterprises Chemicals in Madhavaram. In this regard, five owners of the plant were arrested and investigations have begun.
With 15 members already arrested in connection with the illicit liquor case, the total number of arrests is now at 20.
The Prohibition Enforcement Wing on Sunday arrested Sivakumar, who is suspected to have supplied methanol to Madhesh of Puducherry who in turn passed it to the bootleggers in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. He was nabbed from Chennai where he was hiding.
He was then handed over to the CB-CID for further investigation. In a related development, four persons were arrested by the special wing for allegedly stocking barrels holding 1,500 litres of chemical solvents at a godown in Vadaperumbakkam in neighbouring Tiruvallur district.
The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi district rose to 58, with one more person succumbing on Monday morning while over 80 people are still admitted to local hospitals.