KOCHI: Excise on Thursday busted a major racket engaged in manufacture of illicit liquor under the guise of a bio-diesel at Edayar industrial area near Aluva. Excise officials seized 8,190 litres of spirit stored at the underground tank built for rainwater harvesting at JK Enterprises and arrested three persons including the owner of the firm.
Officials said they got a tip-off on spirit being brought to Aluva area from outside the state. It was around 9pm on Wednesday that the excise team intercepted a lorry en route to Idukki with 40 cans of spirit at Aluva. Baiju alias Kuttapayi, 50, of Thamanam staying at Puthiyakavu and Shyam Kumar, 38, of Chittethukara, who were in the lorry, were arrested.
The duo admitted that they received spirit from JK Enterprises owned by N V Kurian, 65, of Ashoka Road, Kaloor. The inspection at the manufacturing unit started around 11pm on Wednesday and ended by 3am on Thursday. Excise registered a case under the Abkari Act against Kuttapayi, Shyam and Kurian. Though Kurian gave the slip, he was traced to a house near Rajagiri Hospital in Aluva. The investigators also raided Kurian’s house. Excise is searching for Kurian’s son Ribin, who allegedly handles the business in Kochi.
“There were two manufacturing units at JK Enterprises. One is a paint company which is a separate entity owned by a different person. Kurian’s firm is engaged in production of bio-diesel from used engine oil. The underground tank was made for harvesting rainwater. Instead of rainwater, the accused stored spirit in cans,” said Ernakulam excise deputy commissioner P V Aliyas.
During the search, 203 cans, each of which contained 35 litres of spirit, were recovered from the underground tank. Each can was concealed inside cardboard boxes. The accused disclosed that the spirit was sourced from Goa. “There are some migrant workers at the unit and they claimed that Kurian had a distillery plant in Goa. Similarly, a truckload of cans was despatched to Idukki last week. They were told the cans contained bio-diesel,” an official said.
Excise conducted another search at JK Enterprises on Thursday afternoon and recovered stickers of liquor bottles from Kurian’s office. “The spirit was brought to JK Enterprises for making illicit liquor. More persons are involved. After producing Kurian in court, we will seek his custody for interrogation,” an official said.