ELURU: Eluru district SP Rahul Dev Sharma and his team conducted raids on illicit breweries in Kaikaluru, an area lying in Kolleru lake, on Saturday. The raids were conducted at Srungavarappadu village in Kaikaluru Mandal. District additional SP (Admin) K Chakravarthy and Kaikaluru police personnel and Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) officials were present.
The police destroyed 4,000 litres of jaggery wash stored in 22 plastic drums and arrested four persons and seized 500 litres of liquor. A case was registered against them in Kaikaluru Rural Police Station. According to the SP, villages with a high number of breweries are divided into three groups — A, B, and C — and district SEB officials in coordination with local police have been conducting raids in those villages. Today, raids were conducted on the breweries in Srungavarappadu village, which falls under the B category. Currently, 123 villages have been recognised as having breweries in which 16 villages come in A category, 42 B and the remaining C.
“In April, 369 cases were filed against breweries, 273 accused were arrested, 2,700 litres of illegal liquor was seized from their possession and 75,000 litres of jaggery secretions were destroyed. The SEB officials in coordination with the police have been raiding three to four villages at a time,” the SP said. Cases will be filed against those who supply ammonia and other substances and those who provide financial support to the breweries. A database on the cases on illicit brewers was being prepared. Those involved in numerous cases would be dealt under the PD Act, the SP said.