VILLUPURAM/PUDUCHERRY: Tamil Nadu police on Friday unearthed a counterfeit liquor manufacturing unit in Puducherry after intercepting a lorry transporting spurious liquor near Vanur.
Acting on a tip-off, officials from the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Villupuram zone conducted vehicle checks near the Puthurai check post, close to Auroville. The team, led by Inspector P Natarajan and Sub-Inspector Inayat Basha, stopped a lorry carrying liquor bottles from Puducherry, which were found to be fake upon inspection.
Police seized 10,032 counterfeit liquor bottles along with the lorry and an escorting car. Four persons were arrested—C Karutha Pandi (40) of Tiruchy, S Paul Jose (52) of Puducherry, C Siddiq (22) of Salem, and K Rajasekar (43), a native of Villupuram currently residing in Puducherry.
Police said the car, travelling ahead of the lorry, was used to alert the lorry driver about police checks or patrols along the route—a tactic commonly employed in liquor smuggling operations.
Interrogation of the accused led to the discovery of a fake liquor unit operating out of Ulavaikkal near Villiyanur in Puducherry. A joint raid by CIU and Auroville police led to the seizure of equipment used in the manufacture of spurious liquor. The unit, which was masquerading as a carton-box manufacturing facility, was operated by Sakthivel and Rajasekar of Arumarthapuram and has now been sealed.
Police said the factory had been active for the past month, producing counterfeit bottles mimicking a popular TASMAC brand and smuggling them into Chennai and Thiruvallur.
Additional arrests were made on Saturday. Investigations also revealed that the premises allegedly belong to the daughter of a Puducherry cabinet minister. Notably, the same location was under scrutiny months ago after Tamil Nadu forest officials found an illegal sandalwood oil unit operating there. Further investigation is under way.