Sagar Spurious Liquor Tragedy: ₹30,000 Bounty Suspect Shot In Leg During Police Encounter, Arrests Rise To 19

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): One more suspect carrying a bounty of Rs 30,000 in the Sagar spurious liquor case was arrested after a brief encounter with police early Sunday, police said.

Shivanjay Rajput (21) allegedly fired three rounds at a police team during a search near Kathua Nala forest under Bahrol police station. Police fired two rounds in retaliation, hitting him in the leg.

Superintendent of police Anurag Sujania said Rajput was arrested and taken to hospital. His condition is stable. He said arrests in the case have risen to 19, while police have registered a case against 30 people.

Rajput, a Chhapri village resident, had been absconding since the spurious liquor incident and was allegedly involved in brewing the liquor.

Police recovered a country-made .315-bore pistol, three live cartridges, three empty cartridges, a mobile phone and a motorcycle.

The chase

Acting on information that Rajput was near Kathua Nala and might take the Dhamoni-Bahrol road, teams from Bandri and Bahrol police stations cordoned off the area.

Rajput, riding a motorcycle, allegedly opened fire on spotting police, prompting retaliatory firing.

First encounter

The encounter came two days after another suspect, Ravi Lakhera of Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested after a brief encounter.

Police said Lakhera, carrying a Rs 30,000 reward and involved in 25 cases, was allegedly involved in brewing the spurious liquor. He was injured in the exchange of fire and arrested.