More than 800 litres of illicit liquor and fermented wash has been seized by the Nilgiris district police since the nationwide lockdown came into effect.
Statistics released by the Nilgiris district police have revealed that 105 cases have been registered since March 24 by both the Prohibition Enforcement Wing of the district police as well as police teams in police stations across the district. Cases have been registered against 138 people, officials revealed.
Over the last four weeks, the police have seized more than 167 litres of arrack and 649 litres of fermented wash. Interestingly, only 96 litres of the total amount of liquor seized during the period is Indian Made Foreign Liquor bottles which were being sold illegally in a few villages.
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Nilgiris District Superintendent of Police V. Sasi Mohan said that the production of arrack and fermented wash was limited to remote pockets of the district such as Manjoor, Cherambadi in Gudalur and parts of Kotagiri. “Mostly, the fermented wash we found was of limited quantity, may be between 10-15 litres, indicating that it was meant for local consumption between the people making it and their family members,” said Mr. Sasi Mohan.
He said that in a couple of cases, between 100 and 150 litres of fermented wash were seized, indicating that these people were preparing the alcohol for sale to other people.
The district police have formed teams in every police sub-division in both the Prohibition Enforcement Wing and the Law and Order wing of local police stations to monitor remote areas of the district where they suspect that illicit liquor is being produced and distributed. Police officials warned people of the dangers of consuming illegally made arrack, reminding people that there have been many fatalities resulting from alcohol poisoning across the country in the recent past.
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