The quantum of sentence in the case, which is infamous as the Mograhat hooch tragedy and dates back to 2011, would be pronounced on Monday, the court said.

NINE YEARS on, the Alipore district and se{“type”:”inserter”,”blocks”:[{“clientId”:”0f640469-843a-4d6d-99c0-ab794d489820″,”name”:”core/heading”,”isValid”:true,”attributes”:{“content”:””,”level”:2},”innerBlocks”:[]}]}ssions court on Saturday convicted Nur Islam Fakir alias ‘Khonra Badshah’, the kingpin of a spurious liquor racket that left 173 dead and several more ill at Sangrampur in the Mograhat police station area of South 24 Parganas district. 

The quantum of sentence in the case, which is infamous as the Mograhat hooch tragedy and dates back to 2011, would be pronounced on Monday, the court said. The court convicted ‘Khonra Badshah’ under four sections of the IPC, including murder and causing grievous bodily harm. It also found substance in the charges brought against him under multiple sections of the Bengal Excise Act.

The court acquitted seven others named in the chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department as there was “not enough evidence against them”.One of the seven who were let off was Shakila Bibi, the convict’s wife.

The kingpin, who used to run several unauthorised distilleries in the Sangrampur area along with his associates, spiked country liquor with methyl alcohol and several other toxic chemicals.

The victims of the hooch tragedy were from Mograhat, Usti, Mandirbazar and several areas of Diamond Harbor in the South 24 Parganas.As the toll mounted, agitated family members of the victims razed the unauthorised distilleries.

The kingpin, who had been on the run after the incident, subsequently surrendered before the police. There was substantial evidence against him, sources said.

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Twelve persons were named accused in a case filed at Usti police station in connection with the deaths of 48 of the hooch victims. Two of them are still absconding. The CID arrested 10 people, including ‘Khonra Badshah’ and his wife. The chargesheet was filed in 2012.


The above news was originally posted on indianexpress.com

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