KOCHI: The excise intelligence wing, led by Kuttampuzha range excise preventive officer Sajan Paul, destroyed a wash and arrack production unit near Mamalakkandam, on Friday. As many as 200 litres of wash, 25 litres of arrack and equipment used for production were seized in an operation conducted with the help of forest department officers.
“Bootleggers had kept the vessels and raw materials at a place surrounded by huge boulders to avoid the attack of wild elephants. The arrack brewed at the place was sold in the tribal settlements nearby. Following reports of excise intelligence, we were constantly monitoring the area and the activities of people involved in similar cases earlier,” said Sajan Paul.
As part of the excise team’s search in Vadattupara, Boothathankettu and Mamalakkandam, a total of 55 litres of arrack and 1,350 litres of wash and equipment have been seized so far. Along with Sajan Paul, preventive officer N A Manoj, civil excise officers Jiji N Joseph, Iyaz P P, Jerin P George, Soyi N S and beat forest officer Sachin C Banu also took part in the raid.