Kerala - Kollam   

Wash, hooch seized

Staff Reporter

Divers fish out wash in cans and pots in 30-foot-deep marsh

KOLLAM: As much as 15,000 litres of wash was seized and destroyed at Ezhuthanangad, near Kottarakara, early on Sunday morning, Kollam Assistant Excise Commissioner K.N. Mohanlal said.

Another 50 litres of hooch was seized from a house and a man, Shibu, arrested, he added.

Collector B. Srinivas supervised the raid on what officials described as one of the largest hooch brewing centres in the district.

Mr. Mohanlal said the wash was stored in huge cans and aluminium pots and left for fermentation in a 30-foot-deep marsh.

The excise team brought 10 divers to fish out hundreds of cans and pots. The vessels, estimated at Rs. 2 lakh, were taken in three lorries to the excise office.

During raids held two years ago, two persons, allegedly involved in brewing hooch, were drowned while trying to swim to escape arrest.

Thereafter, a professional diver brought by the Excise Department was drowned while fishing out cans in the marsh.

Raid in Aryanad

Our Special Correspondent adds: In another incident in Thiruvananthapuram district a joint team of Excise and Forest department officials on Sunday raided illicit distillation centres in the Aryanad forest belt and surrounding areas and destroyed 11,000 litres of wash and distilling equipment used to manufacture arrack.

The raid in the Aryanad forests yielded 6,000 litres of wash. Officials also seized 5,000 litres of wash and 50 litres of arrack from other centres such as Cherumanjal, Charupara, Moonnattumukku, Kuthukuzhy, Vettichankunnu, Malavila, Kokotela, Koodalibhagam, Mylamoodu and Oruparakkad.

Peak season

Officials said bootleggers had stepped up their activities in anticipation of the peak demand during the Onam festival season. The raid was carried out by a team led by Assistant Excise Commissioner K. Radhakrishna Pillai on instructions from South Zone Deputy Excise Commissioner Joseph George. As many as 100 Excise and Forest officials participated in the operation.

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