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'Liquor queen' held for twin
tragedies in Kerala

Hairunnisa alias Thatha, prime accused in the hooch tragedy that claimed 31 lives in Kollam district, has been arrested.

Thatha was taken into custody along with her husband Rajan and an employee Raju, from a lodge at the temple town of Guruvayoor, at 0300 hours IST on Tuesday.

Police sources at Guruvayoor told rediff.com that the 'liquor queen' was nabbed when she returned from Mahi, in a taxi car hired from Guruvayoor.

The police, who were following her movements, identified the taxi driver through one of his friends. Police officials led by the circle inspector took her into custody on the basis of information provided by the driver.

On Monday, she was spotted at Mathilakam in Thrissur district, where she reportedly visited the house of a relative at 0900 hours IST. Some people who recognised her alerted the police. However, she managed to escape.

From Mathilakam, Thathta reportedly boarded a bus to Guruvayoor.

A Kollam police team has left for Guruvayoor. Police sources said that the three would be produced before a court.

Thatha, on bail after being sentenced to six years' imprisonment in a similar tragedy leading to the death of two persons, has several cases pending against her. There are 67 cases against her under the Abkari Act.

However, 47 cases under the Act got compounded when the Act was amended in 1997, following a ban on arrack. Of the remaining 20 cases, she was acquitted in nine and convicted in 11.

She was sentenced to 11 years rigorous imprisonment on two counts. The government is planning to register murder and attempt to murder cases against the accused under Sections 302 and 304 of the Indian Penal Code. The government may also invoke Section 57 (A), which prescribes death penalty for the deaths, caused by selling spurious liquor.

The state government has suspened 10 officials of the Kollam excise range for the twin tragedies at Kalluvathukkal and Kottarakkara. The officials, including Kollam assistant excise commissioner Vasudevan were suspended on the basis of a preliminary inquiry by additional excise commissioner V R Rajeevan and excise deputy inspector general of police T P Senkumar into the spurious liquor cases in Kalluvathukkal and Pallickkal (Kottarakkara).

Those suspended in connection with the incident in Kalluvathukkal are circle inspector Mohammad Rasheed, sub-inspector Sukumaran Nair and preventive officers P Unnikrishnan, C N Viswan and S Sunil Kumara Pillai.

Officials suspended for the Kottarakkara tragedy are circle inspector Faziluddin, sub-inspector Nelson and preventive officers N Radhakrishnan and G Balachandran.

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