Inspector General Gagandeep Gambhir at Bhavnagar as part of the investigation. (Express File photo)The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) of the Gujarat Police on Thursday said they had apprehended the co-mastermind of the hooch tragedy in Bhavnagar that killed 13 people in August after they consumed Methanol-laced liquor filled in bottles of a famous brand of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). This is the 42nd arrest in the case.On Thursday, a statement from the SMC said they had arrested Ladu Lal alias Ganesh Shyamlal Kharol (22), a resident of Bhilwara, Rajasthan, on September 30.He was apprehended with the help of the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), brought to Gujarat on a transit warrant, and presented before a local court, which sent him to police remand till October 8.The SMC said, “The mastermind of the racket, Gautam Solanki, was constantly in touch with Ganesh Kharol and both of them had decided to make the liquor at the residence of Solanki (in Bhavnagar). It was Kharol who managed to acquire all the items required to package the Laththa (hooch).”It further said, “When he came to know that people had begun dying after consuming the hooch, Kharol left Gujarat. During this, he contacted the other accused persons in this case and asked them to destroy evidence including their phones.”Gujarat is a ‘dry’ state where the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol is banned.The tragedy that killed 13Thirteen persons died and around 40 people were hospitalised after consuming spurious liquor packed in bottles with the label of a popular IMFL brand. The FIR in this case, filed at Vartej police station on August 19, booked 21 persons for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other sections of the BNS and Prohibition Act.Story continues below this adThe SMC had arrested 13 accused persons on August 21, one more on August 22, and 13 more including retail bootleggers on August 23. This was followed by one arrest on August 25 and three arrests on August 26, taking the number of people arrested in the case to 31.On August 31, the SMC arrested Rajdeepsinh Gajendrasinh Gohil, an Armed Constable of Bhavnagar Police, and others, taking the total arrested persons to 39.On September 7, the SMC arrested Manjeet Singh Krishanchandra Saini (43), resident of West Delhi, who allegedly made the fake bills for the Methanol used for the toxic drink. The bills were allegedly made in the name of Methanol thinner, a restricted substance in India.Notably, one of the main accused in this case, the alleged brewer of the tainted liquor – Narendrasinh Yadav alias Doctor of Madhya Pradesh — died on August 18 after consuming the toxic brew himself.