Armed with what police describe as partial knowledge gained from repeated searches using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, a 26-year-old man allegedly set up an illicit liquor operation in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district , procuring chemicals from Indore and selling the concoction in discarded liquor bottles mixed with genuine stock.

Investigators are examining whether liquor supplied by the alleged racket was linked to the 13 suspected hooch deaths reported in Chandana and Binjana villages since September 27. Forensic tests are awaited to establish whether the liquor was contaminated and whether it was connected to the deaths. The Dewas district administration initially dismissed allegations that a spate of deaths in Chandana village was linked to the consumption of spurious liquor, describing reports of hooch deaths as “false and misleading”.…