Dewas: The probe into the killing of a station house officer crushed under a truck while stopping an illicit liquor run now stretches to ₹40 crore of liquor contracts.
Khategaon SHO Dilip Puri died on the Indore-Betul highway in Dewas district in the early hours of November 2. He had stopped a truck carrying more than 1,800 litres of liquor.
Dewas Superintendent of Police Aditya Mishra told reporters that about ₹35 lakh had been seized on information given by the main accused, Rahul Jaiswal. Eight people have been arrested so far, of whom six are in police custody on a local court's order.
According to Mishra, gang members or their associates had obtained liquor contracts worth ₹40 crore in Harda district in the name of Patendra Jaiswal, a resident of Barwani, who held a 10% stake.
The investigation has also turned up WhatsApp chats said to reveal details of profits and how the money was distributed among the accused, the state police said. The eight arrests and the ₹35 lakh seizure are part of the same investigation, they said, and those arrested have been booked in connection with both the officer's death and the liquor trade.
The ₹40 crore contract trail in Harda is the largest single thread the probe has produced so far. Officers are also working on the route used to move liquor through the district.
Colleagues who worked with Puri in Dewas have described him as an officer who went by the book.
The allegations have not been established in court.
Next: the chargesheet, and whether the Harda contracts lead to arrests beyond the eight already made.