India, June 28 -- Mumbai Police have arrested a 39-year-old man from Pune for allegedly distributing capsules laced with zinc phosphide, a highly toxic rat poison, to participants at a Muharram procession in south Mumbai after falsely claiming they were painkillers. Police said swift action by officers and hospital staff helped avert a potential mass poisoning incident.

The accused, identified as Faiyaz Premji, was detained by the Byculla Police after officers noticed him handing out capsules to devotees during the procession on Friday night. Authorities seized around 14,900 capsules from his possession, suspecting they contained zinc phosphide, a rodenticide commonly used to kill rats and mice.

The incident came to light after a man wh...