The Crime Branch-CID has filed a plea in a court in Villupuram, on May 23, 2023, seeking three-day custody of 11 persons, arrested in connection with the spurious liquor tragedy in Marakkanam, which claimed 14 lives.
The agency filed the petition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court on Tuesday, seeking their custody for interrogation. The plea is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday, police sources said.
The Marakkanam police, who initially probed the case, handed over the case diary and related files on Monday to the CB-CID team led by Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police Gomathi, who has been appointed as the investigating officer.
On May 17, the Tamil Nadu police had altered the case relating to the deaths of 22 persons in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts due to the consumption of spurious liquor, to that of murder.
An investigation by the police had revealed that the deaths of 22 persons in the two districts were caused due to the methanol in the liquor, supplied to the black market by an individual, Ilaya Nambi. Of the 1,200 litres of the methanol or poisonous arrack, five litres were sold in Marakkanam and three in Chithamur. The remaining 1,192 litres were seized within 48 hours.
