PUDUCHERRY: Distilleries in Puducherry have come under scanner after another scam was unearthed in one involving attachment of fake holograms in connivance with excise department personnel.
The scam came to light while verification of the stock register after lockdown, when there was mismatch in permits issued for procuring liquor from distilleries, attachment of holograms and the stock of liquor bottles in the warehouses.
On checking in the shops, restaurants and bars where the distilleries have been supplied, it was revealed that some bottles were without holograms and others with counterfeit holograms, sources said.
This led the Excise sleuths to the distilleries and excess stock of liquor was discovered in their warehouse.
The Excise officer is the custodian of the hologram as well as in charge of releasing Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), the raw material required for manufacture of liquor.
There is an office of the EO in every distillery and without their compliance the scam could not have occurred, sources revealed.
The police has registered cases against the Licence Holder Ravi Kumar and Management of Ravikumar distilleries private Limited at Kaaterikuppam on June 24 under various sections of the IPC for forgery, cheating, counterfeiting mark used by the government and others as well as against Excise officers who served in the distillery since the Hologram system was introduced in 2006.
The Excise Department has also registered a case against them for violations and sealed the distillery after a team of Excise sleuths consisting of Deputy Commissioner Excise Shashvat Saurav and Tahsildar P S Ravichandran inspected it.
A show cause notice has also been served to the distillery by the Excise department, sources said.