Hooch tragedy main accused arrested

Ajay Sonkar, a BJP worker who was the main accused in the hooch tragedy which killed six people here recently, has been arrested. Sonkar accused of supplying illicit liquor in Pathariya Peer slum area of the city where the deaths occurred on September 19-20, was arrested from EC Road on Monday, Dehradun SSP Arun Mohan Joshi said.

Sonkar alias Ghonchu was arrested when he was on way to the court to surrender himself, Joshi said. He was hiding at a friend's place in Haridwar to evade arrest, the SSP said.

The BJP which had suffered much embarrassment since Sonkar's name cropped up as the main accused in the case had expelled him from the party earlier on Monday. Sonkar was expelled from the party by BJP Mahaanagar president Vinay Goyal on the direction of Pradesh party president Ajay Bhatt, Pradesh BJP media in-charge Devendra Bhasin had said. A former councilor from the Congress, Sonkar had joined the BJP after the 2017 general elections.