The ongoing probe into the Muvattupuzha-based liquor racket has shed light on the flourishing sale of spurious Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the rural areas of Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram districts.
Officials said the racket, which had operated for around seven months, was found to have smuggled in about 1,120 litres of rectified spirit from Tamil Nadu at a price of Rs.150 per litre. After being stocked at isolated locations across the State border, the spirit consignments were brought in through the check-posts using luxury cars.
Meanwhile, other raw materials such as caramel, flavours and colours that are available cheap in the open market, were procured locally.
“About 2.23 litres of IMFL could be made using one litre of spirit, which was sold under a reputed brand name with the price ranging from Rs.300 to Rs.400 per half litre. The cost of production also involved the commission to distributors, which was fixed around Rs.50 per one case,” explained Suresh Babu, Deputy Excise Commissioner, Ernakulam.
Sold only in bulk
The spurious brew in branded bottles was sold only in bulk quantities through local distributors, who were also responsible for marketing the product.
“The bottles were corked using a machine and distributed to agents after pasting fake hologram stickers so that people could not detect it by its cap or the label’’, the official said.
Official sources said such bottles of liquor were supplied mostly to late-night customers. The bootleggers would also sell the spurious booze at marriage functions.
Four arrested
The Excise sleuths have so far arrested four people, who were identified as Sreekumar, Varun, Arun and Biju, in this connection. The sleuths are currently on the lookout for Santosh, a resident of North Parvur, and the alleged kingpin of the racket. “Among the accused, Santosh, Biju and Sreekumar were earlier accused in various spirit smuggling cases. We have also received information about the agents who had sold the bottles locally and they will be soon taken into custody,” officials said.
