BHOPAL: A key accused in the Madhya Pradesh spurious liquor tragedy that has claimed 16 lives was arrested early Friday after he was injured in an encounter with police in Sagar district, officials said.
Ravi Lakhera, 45, was intercepted by a police team in the Baraytha forest, around 40 km from Sagar district headquarters, leading to an exchange of fire, Additional Superintendent of Police Jayveer Bahdoriya said.
Lakhera suffered a bullet injury to his leg during the encounter, while two associates accompanying him on a motorcycle escaped, the officer said.
He was subsequently taken to a hospital in Banda in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for treatment and is in a stable condition, police sources said.
Lakhera is among the main accused in the manufacture and distribution of spurious liquor in Sagar. He is alleged to have worked with licensed liquor contractor Manish Lodhi, alias Yashwant Singh Lodhi, to manufacture the liquor, which was supplied through peddlers in the district.
A resident of Gangapuram Colony in Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur, Lakhera has around 25 criminal cases registered against him in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and other places, mostly under the Excise Act, police sources said. He originally hails from Mahoba district in Uttar Pradesh, where his parents reside.
He was also wanted in a 2025 case registered at Baheriya police station in Sagar in connection with illegal liquor brewing, the sources said.
Police alleged that Lakhera had expertise in liquor manufacturing and in procuring materials required for its production. He was also said to be operating a team involved in manufacturing spurious liquor.
Reacting to Lakhera’s arrest, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the police had demonstrated their efficiency and reiterated that no one responsible for the tragedy would be spared.
He said the government would take stringent action against all those responsible, regardless of their position.
“We will launch a campaign against drugs in the state and take stringent action against those responsible for such incidents,” the chief minister said.
The spurious liquor tragedy has so far claimed 16 lives, while 32 people are undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Of the 30 people named as accused in the case, 17 have been arrested.
Yadav has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.