THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Persons other than traders who stock yeast, sugar and fruits in bulk are quite likely to come under the radar of law enforcement agencies. This comes in the wake of rising incidents of liquor being brewed in homes -- a legal offence -- which got the authorities to put those procuring massive quantities of the three items under the lens. Yeast, sugar and fruits are three of the ingredients used to prepare ‘wash’, the unfiltered alcoholic liquid which when distilled gives alcohol fit for human consumption.
After the lockdown kicked in, the Excise department has seized about 1.5 lakh litres of ‘wash’, while the mixture seized during the whole of last year came to only 1.8 lakh litres. Sam Christy Daniel, Additional Excise Commissioner, said the cases of bulk brewing are being detected, while tracking down those engaged in brewing small quantities for personal consumption is pretty difficult.
“The department acts on the basis of information. If the brewing is done clandestinely at homes without the odour emanating and the neighbourhood remaining unaware, it’s very difficult to detect,” he said. An Excise source, meanwhile, said to tackle micro-brewing, they are now collecting information on people purchasing yeast and other ingredients regularly.