2 get 10 years in jail for 2009 Guj hooch tragedy

A sessions court here Monday sentenced two men to 10 years in jail in a 2009 hooch tragedy case.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge D P Mahida also fined Yogendra Chhara and Jayesh Thakkar of Rs 50,000 each.

A hooch tragedy took place between July 5 and July 7, 2009, which claimed 148 lives.

A case, in which Chhara and Thakkar were named, was registered in Kagdapith police station.

In this case, in which 23 people died, the duo were charged under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, among others, and under relevant sections of the Prohibition Act.

As per the prosecution, Thakkar was accused of supplying methanol to one Vinod alias Dagri to manufacture spurious liquor, which was then distributed by Chhara to local retailers.

Dagri was earlier given 10 years imprisonment by the same court in March this year, along with another accused Arvind Solanki, who was awarded seven years of imprisonment. Eight women, who were accused of distributing the spurious liquor, were also sentenced to two years in prison under the Prohibition Act.

Both Thakkar and Chhara were in hiding during the trial and were held earlier this year.