1,782 litres of spirit was seized from a truck parked at a petrol pump on Thursday.
The Excise Department has identified a person they believe could be the key to solving a case in connection with the seizure of 1,782 litres of spirit from a truck parked at a petrol pump along the Edappally-Vyttila National Highway Bypass on Thursday.
A search carried out on the basis of information provided by petrol pump employees led the Excise personnel to Ajith Kumar of Edappally. “The staff at the pump identified his picture and confirmed that he had brought in the truck,” said K. Mohanan, Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Ernakulam Range.
In hiding
The suspect had gone into hiding and Excise personnel have launched a search for him. The truck with Tamil Nadu registration was brought into the pump on Wednesday morning and Mr. Kumar had promised to take it away on Thursday. The Excise personnel searched the truck on the basis of a tip-off on Thursday and seized the spirit stored in 52 cans hidden in a specially-constructed space near the driver's cabin.
Even though the suspect was supposed to take the vehicle out on Thursday morning, Excise sources said that he may have chosen to wait a little longer as there was special checking at Kumbalam toll in connection with the Neyyanttinkara bypoll.
Investigation showed that the same truck was brought to the petrol pump on May 21, parked for a day and taken out.
Keywords: Spirit seizure
