Kerala - Alappuzha   

Spirit supply down as raids continue

ALAPPUZHA: It is nearly three weeks since the Inter-State Illicit Spirit Movement Investigation Team led by Inspector General of Police (Crimes) Rishi Raj Singh began its crackdown on the spirit lobby operating from the central Travancore region.

Several raids and three notable seizures later, the mission’s impact is slowly showing. The sudden fear that shook spirit smugglers and the resultant non-availability of spurious toddy/liquor has led to over 300 toddy shops downing shutters. Mr. Singh, speaking to The Hindu on Sunday, was quite upbeat over the outcome, though he admitted that it might be a little too early to judge the outcome of the mission. “We began the raids on December 12. After that, we have been conducting raids and inspections at least once in every 48 hours. More than 15,000 litres of spurious toddy and 10,000 litres of spirit have been seized from various places across the State. The impact so far has revealed the shocking stranglehold of spurious liquor on the public,” he says.

“The fact that there is no demand for genuine toddy shows that people have become so attuned to consuming spurious stuff. That is a serious issue. On the other hand, because there are no takers for the pure variety, shops are closing down, otherwise we never told anyone to shut shop,” he points out.

Mr. Singh also pointed out that several toddy shops have been turned into mixing centres by the spirit mafia. “Most of the toddy shops we raided were centres for mixing spirit with toddy and for manufacturing the spurious stuff. They were selling this from 3 a.m. onwards, which is again violation of rules.”

Mr. Singh pointed out another chilling factor as well. “Nooranad, according to credible statistics, has the highest percentage of suicides in the country. And Nooranad is the capital of the spirit/spurious toddy lobby in Kerala. The correlation has to be studied in depth. Moreover, a radius of 20 km from the centre of Nooranad has recorded consumption of 80 percent of the spirit-mixed liquor in the State,” he says.

Several paddy fields near Nooranad, he says, have become storage points for spirit. “They are hiding the spirit under water in these fields,” he notes, adding that the raids would continue till the flow of the spirit into the State came to a complete halt.

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Spirit supply down as raids continue

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