2001 Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy: How 'James Bond' evaded arrest for 23 years

Twenty-two years after supplying methanol that killed 53 people in Tamil Nadu, a 58-year-old man has been arrested. James Bond, alias Teja Anand, had been supplying methanol to bootleggers in Panruti, Cuddalore, leading to the hooch tragedy in November 2001. Police traced Bond to Tirupur, where he had been living under an assumed identity after fleeing his hometown.

Representative image CUDDALORE: A 58-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for supplying methanol to bootleggers at Panruti, Cuddalore where a hooch tragedy claimed 53 lives in Nov 2001. Several people lost their eyesight after drinking the illicit liquor brewed using methanol supplied by James Bond alias Teja Anand. After the 2001 tragedy, police booked 22 people under different sections of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act and arrested 21 of them.

Twelve of them died during the trial, which is still going on. ADGP S Davidson Devasirvatham and IG (north zone) Asra Garg directed district police to trace James Bond, who had been absconding, and arrest him. Cuddalore SP R Rajaram formed a special team headed by Pudupettai police inspector Ashokan to nab the absconding man.

The team visited his hometown and inquired with his relatives, but they said they were not aware of his whereabouts. Police tapped the mobile phones of his relatives and learnt that he settled in Tirupur after setting up a grocery store there. The team traced and arrested him.

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