Decades-Long Fugitive Arrested in Infamous Panruti Hooch Tragedy

A man involved in the 2001 Panruti hooch tragedy, which claimed 53 lives, has been arrested after evading police for 23 years. The suspect had been living under an alias and was located in Tirupur after police tracked phone calls of his relatives. He was arrested on Thursday.

A key suspect in the notorious 2001 Panruti hooch tragedy, which claimed the lives of 53 people, was apprehended this week after evading capture for over two decades, according to law enforcement officials.

The man, now 58, had reportedly settled in Tirupur, where he operated a grocery store under a pseudonym. Local police managed to track him down by monitoring the phone calls of his relatives and subsequently arrested him on Thursday.

The suspect is alleged to have supplied methanol to bootleggers, resulting in the deadly incident. While 21 individuals were originally arrested in connection with the tragedy, the trial is ongoing, with 12 of the defendants having died in the interim.

(With inputs from agencies.)