Elusive suspect who supplied methanol to bootleggers in Tamil Nadu's Panruti held after 23 years

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu: An elusive man, suspected to have supplied methanol to bootleggers leading to a hooch tragedy in Panruti in the district claiming 53 lives, 23 years ago, was arrested from Tirupur, police said on Friday.

The man, now aged 58, managed to evade the police dragnet for over two decades after settling down in Tirupur and setting up a grocery store, police said.

Though his whereabouts had remained unknown for many years, the district police traced him to Tirupur and arrested him on Thursday after tracking the mobile phone calls of his relatives, the official said.

He was said to have supplied methanol to the bootleggers in Panruti, leading to the hooch tragedy in November 2001. Many who consumed the spurious liquor lost their vision.

Following the incident, the police arrested 21 people and of them 12 died during the trial, which is going on.

The suspect remained hard to trace as he went by a pseudonym. A team led by the Pudupettai police inspector arrested the man, the police official said.