Officials on alert against illicit liquor production
The departments will conduct joint raids at various places to check illicit liquor production
By : abhish k.bose
Update: 2014-08-24 05:49 GMT
KOTTAYAM: The police, excise and forest departments in the district are on alert against the production of illicit liquor on the eve of Onam. The departments will conduct joint raids at Erumely, Erattupetta, Melukavu, Manimala, Changanassery and other places to check illicit liquor production. “The places have been identified on the basis of the tipoffs given by the excise intelligence and the special branch of the police” said P. Krishnakumar, DYSP of Narcotics Control Bureau here.
In a raid conducted by the police and the excise last week, some 2000 litres of ingredients to make liquor were destroyed at Erumely, he added. “We are also randomly selecting places for conducting the raid,” he said.
A special branch report had recently warned of a liquor tragedy in Kottayam district. The report submitted to the Kottayam district police chief and excise deputy commissioner mentioned that some of the toddy shops operating in Changanassery were using toddy with high spirit content. Among the 55 toddy shops in the Changanassery range, 20 were selling fake toddy, the report said.