M.P. hooch deaths: prime accused used AI to help brew liquor at home, say police

Prime accused Ajay Rathore. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT One of the accused arrested for allegedly selling illicit liquor in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas had used artificial intelligence (AI) to help make fake liquor and supply it in the area by mixing it with real liquor, officials said on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) after nabbing one more man in the case. A total of 11 people have been arrested so far, amid allegations surfacing of over 10 deaths due to spurious liquor in a month in two villages of the district.Shashikant Chourasia, Dewas Kotwali police station in-charge, told The Hindu that it was revealed during interrogation that one of the prime accused Ajay Rathore, a 26-year-old resident of Indore who was arrested on October 26, had learnt the formulae of mixing chemicals and water, and prepared fake liquor at home.So far, 13 people have allegedly died in Chandana and Binjana villages since September 27 owing to consumption of spurious liquor.Meanwhile, the District Excise Officer in Dewas has been suspended over “gross negligence”.State Excise Commissioner Deepak Saxena, in an order dated October 27, suspended Basanti Bhuria for failing to control the manufacturing and sale of illicit liquor in her jurisdictional area. The order takes into cognisance the death of two persons that are currently under investigation. The action came the same day when the State government transferred Dewas Collector Ritu Raj and Superintendent of Police (SP) Punit Gehlot in a bureaucratic reshuffle.Mr. Chourasia, however, said that a connection between the deaths and the fake liquor supplied in the area could only be established once the forensic test reports of both the liquor and viscera samples of two deceased who underwent post-mortem examinations arrive.“Evidence gathered in the investigation so far do indicate a connection but we can only ascertain the causes of deaths once the reports come,” he said.The officer said that another prime accused, Govind, who partnered with Rathore, is currently absconding and teams are searching for him, while two other associates — Vishal Chouhan and Rameshwar Singh Songara — have already been arrested.The accused had earlier been booked under Section 34(2) of the Madhya Pradesh Excise Act, 1915, and Section 49(a) of the Act has now been invoked in the case for manufacturing the liquor illegally.The man arrested on Wednesday has been identified as Aman Kasliwal, a resident of Indore, who had allegedly supplied chemicals to Rathore, Mr. Chourasia said, adding that the godown in Indore where the chemical was supplied from has been sealed.Of the 10 accused arrested earlier, eight have been granted police remand for three days while two have been sent to judicial custody.Mr. Chourasia said Rathore had searched about the process of making liquor at home from an AI app since September 27-28. “Afterwards, he ordered a particular chemical from Indore’s Dawa Bazaar. The chemical was delivered to him on October 1, and he and his associates started making alcohol from October 2.”The police official said that the accused bought scrapped liquor bottles for their supply.“Some [government] licensed liquor shops used to give them real liquor for illicit trade. So, they would mix their fake liquor bottle in the carton and sell in rural areas,” he said, adding that two more people have been made accused in the case for selling the fake liquor in the two villages.Mr. Chourasia said that the accused had been able to make a limited amount of fake liquor so far. They had bought caps for scrap bottles from arrested accused Satyendra Ojha, a resident of Indore, he added.He said that the police are probing the supply of other materials used in producing liquor, and that more accused will be added in the case accordingly. Published - October 28, 2026 05:34 pm IST