Excise Intelligence officers busted a bottling unit of duplicate Indian Made Foreign Liquor (popularly known as ‘seconds’) and arrested two persons at Kodungalloor on Saturday evening.
The arrested were identified as Anilkumar and Sethumadhavan, both residents of Kodungalloor. The unit was functioning in a shed alongside the house of Sethumadhavan. Anilkumar was an accused in multiple liquor cases in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, said Excise officials.
The Excise sleuths seized 1,100 litres of bottled duplicate liquor, another 100 litres of duplicate liquor, a bottling unit, 250 litres of spirit, two litres of special grape spirit added to the mix to get the flavour of the liquor, caramel (which is used as a colouring agent), and a car used for the transportation of the product.
“Second grade liquor from this unit was being distributed through a network of bootleggers in the coastal areas of Ernakulam and Thrissur. Seizure of small units of duplicate liquor from these two districts in recent times alerted us to the presence of such a bottling unit following which we had intensified surveillance over the last three months,” K.R. Babu, Assistant Excise Commissioner, Central Zone, told The Hindu .
The Excise team also seized forged hologram stickers and labels procured from Bengaluru. “During recent seizures of ‘seconds’ we had noted the high quality hologram stickers and labels on them and found that they were forged after examining them with the help of C-DIT. They were unlike any we have found before and it was tough to differentiate them from the originals,” said Mr. Babu. He said while the ‘seconds’ were found to be largely sold through bootleggers, the possibility of them making their way into bars could not be completely ruled out.
The Excise officers are continuing their combing operations after receiving tip-off that more such bottling units might be working in rented houses in Kodungalloor and Chalakudy areas. Two more accused have been identified and a hunt is on for them.
Meanwhile, the arrested have been charged with Abkari Act Sections 55(a), 55 (i), 55D, 58, 12(c) and 67B covering various crimes such as manufacturing duplicate liquor and forgery. They will be produced before the court on Sunday.
