Two prime accused in the hooch tragedy that has claimed 20 lives so far in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district were held after a brief encounter on Wednesday (September 23, 2026), officers said. 

According to the police, Manish Lodhi alias Yashwant Thakur and his accomplice Ashish Sahu were held after a brief encounter around 3 a.m. near Malthone area, about 50 kilometres from the district headquarters. Lodhi suffered a bullet injury in his leg in the encounter. 

With Lodhi and Sahu, the total number of accused arrested in the case has reached 39. The police have named 52 people in two separate cases filed in the wake of the tragedy in villages across Sagar’s Banda and Shahgarh sub-divisions.  

Sagar Superintendent of Police (SP) Anurag Sujania said that the police had received inputs on Tuesday night (September 22) that Lodhi had entered the district through Malthone area to seek help from some acquaintance of his. 

“The police acted on the inputs and surrounded him at a location. He was told to surrender, but he started firing at the police team. The police fired in self-defence and he was injured in his leg after which Ashish Sahu and he were taken into custody,” he said. 

Lodhi, one of the main accused in the case, had been absconding since September 6, when the tragedy came to light. The police have dubbed him as one of the main faces of a counterfeit liquor racket that was recently uncovered. 

Lodhi owned a government-licensed liquor shop in Banda’s Barethi village and allegedly used it to supply illegal and counterfeit liquor in the area. He is also accused of having conspired to manufacture counterfeit liquor, that is believed to have caused the deaths due to its high methyl alcohol content, with other key accused men. 

Additional SP Narendra Singh Solanki told The Hindu that Lodhi had been hiding in different states since the tragedy, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. 

“We had been constantly tracing him. After initially hiding in M.P.’s Maihar, he went to U.P. and was in Lalitpur for a few days. From there, he went to Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh and Udaipur and entered Gujarat from there,” the officer said. 

Mr. Solanki said that Lodhi has a criminal record of 11 cases against him since 2010, including at least six under the Excise Act for alleged liquor smuggling and holding large amount of illegal liquor. 

Earlier, on September 22, the Madhya Pradesh High Court disposed of a petition in the matter, noting that the State Government had already ordered a judicial probe in the case. 

The State Government also submitted before the court an official death toll of 20 people in the tragedy, even as coal reports continue to peg the number above 35.

A man wanted in connection with the hooch tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district that recently claimed 16 lives was captured after a brief encounter with police early on Sunday (September 13, 2026), officials said.

The 21-year-old accused, Shivanjay Rajput, who was carrying a bounty of ₹30,000, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg during the face-off, they said.

With this, the number of accused arrested in the case of spurious liquor consumption has gone up to 19, police sources said.

Mr. Rajput allegedly fired three rounds at a police team during a search operation near Kathua Nala forest area under Bahrol police station, following which the security personnel fired two rounds in retaliation and hit him in the leg, the officials said.

The accused was subsequently arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment. His condition was stable, Sagar police control room in-charge sub-inspector R.K.S. Chauhan told PTI over the phone.

Mr. Rajput, a resident of Chhapri village under Banda police station in Sagar, had been absconding since the spurious liquor incident earlier this month killed 16 persons. He was involved in brewing the liquor, and a reward of ₹30,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest, according to police.

A country-made .315-bore pistol, three live cartridges, three empty cartridges, a mobile phone and a motorcycle were recovered from his possession, a police statement said.

Police received information early on Sunday (September 13, 2026) that Mr. Rajput, who allegedly has three criminal cases registered against him and was previously involved in liquor smuggling, was in the forest near Kathua Nala and might pass through the Dhamoni-Bahrol road on his way home in Chhapri.

Following the tip-off, teams from Bandri and Bahrol police stations cordoned off the area and launched a search.

Mr. Rajput, who was on a motorbike, allegedly opened fire after spotting the police team, prompting retaliatory firing in which he was injured, the officials said.

Earlier, on Friday (September 11, 2026), one of the main accused in the Sagar hooch case, Ravi Lakhera was also captured after a brief police encounter. He was involved in 25 criminal cases and carried a reward of ₹30,000 on his head.

Mr. Lakhera, hailing from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly involved in manufacturing the spurious liquor.

The Sagar spurious liquor tragedy has claimed at least 16 lives so far since last week, with a patient in hospital still critical, an official said.

Police have claimed that a suspected gang from Lalitpur was linked to the manufacture and supply of the spurious liquor.