The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Illicit distilling centres thrive around Bangalore

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Illicit distilling centres thrive around Bangalore

K.V. Subramanya and Raghava M.

Investigations: Narsapura arrack originated from Bylanarsapura

The police have destroyed around 200 underground tanks in Adigarakallahalli village
‘Adigarakallahalli is known as the capital of illicit distillation in Karnataka’

Bangalore: The hooch tragedy, which has claimed over 62 lives in Bangalore, Kolar and neighbouring villages of Tamil Nadu, has brought to focus the unabated manufacture of spurious arrack in several centres in Bangalore Rural district.

For several decades, illicit distillation has been thriving in Adigarakallahalli in Anekal taluk and Bylanarsapura, Kattigehalli, Medi Mallasandra and Shankinipura in Hoskote taluk of Bangalore Rural district. The trade is continuing even a year after the State Government banned the manufacture and sale of arrack in 2007.

Origin

In the past, several people had died after consuming spurious arrack/liquor manufactured in these villages. Even in the latest incident, preliminary investigations by the police have indicated that the arrack consumed by victims in Narsapura in Kolar district had originated from Bylanarsapura. It was the arrack manufactured in Adigarakallhali that resulted in the death of several people in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, according to senior police officials.

The possibility of the victims from Roshan Nagar in Devarajeevanahalli in Bangalore having consumed arrack produced from Adigarakallahalli cannot be ruled out, said the Inspector-General of Police, Excise Enforcement and Lottery Prohibition Wing, S.K. Venugopal.

The Excise Enforcement Cell had seized 2,000 litres of spurious arrack in Roshannagar on April 9 and registered two cases. The local police were instructed to keep a watch on bootlegging in the area, Mr. Venugopal told The Hindu on Monday.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police R. Srikumar said there was no commonality between the sources of the arrack in the three incidents. However, there were indications that the brew supplied to Kolar was from Bylanarsapura and that to Krishnagiri was from Anekal taluk, he said.

Large centre

According to Mr. Venugopal, the quantity of arrack manufactured in Adigrakallahalli is so huge that it caters to the needs of several districts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Every resident of this village is involved in the manufacture of illicit arrack or fake Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). “The people of Adigrakallahalli have quality RCC houses in the village. But they do not reside there. They live in Someshwaranagar and other localities in Bangalore. They come to the village at night, manufacture arrack/IMFL, transport the consignment and vacate the place before dawn,” he said.

There is a great demand from Tamil Nadu for the illicit arrack manufactured in this village. People from Tamil Nadu pay money in advance to illicit distillers of Adigarakallahalli, he said.

In one of the biggest operations in recent years, the Excise Enforcement Cell unearthed massive illicit arrack and liquor distilling trade in Adigarakallahalli in April. During the raids, the police found that the bootleggers had created 35 underground tanks and stored 77,000 litres of illicit distilling wash, estimated at Rs. 11.5 lakh.

The underground barrel-shaped tanks were of eight to 10 ft. in diameter and 10 to 14ft. deep. The police used earth-moving equipment to destroy the tanks. To escape from the clutches of the law, the bootleggers had dug such tanks even on Government lands and public roads. Each tank had a capacity of 12,000 litres, Mr. Venugopal said.

Rampant

There are villages such as Bylanarasapur, Kattigehalli, Shankanipura and Medimallasandra in Bangalore Rural district, where illicit distillation is rampant. But the arrack/IMFL manufactured in these centres is hardly one-tenth of that produced in Adigarakallahalli, “the capital of illicit distillation in Karnataka”.

In the past three months, the police have destroyed around 200 huge underground tanks in the village, he said.

The illicit distillation in these villages is said to be causing a revenue loss of over Rs. 50 crore a year to the State Excise Department.

According to officials of the Excise Department, on an average, these centres manufacture 15,000 cases of fake IMFL and a huge quantity of arrack daily.

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