21,000 litres of rectified spirit seized

Karur, Tamil Nadu, Apr 3 (UNI) Police seized 21,000 litres of rectified spirit, worth Rs 30 lakh, meant for smuggling to neighbouring states, and arrested two people at Odakkadu village , near here, late last night.

Kerala police had seized a large quantity of rectified spirit, being smuggled into Kerala in a cement-laden lorry at Valayar Checkpost on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on March 24 and arrested 19 people - 17 from Kerala and two from Karnataka, police said.

Based on the information given by one of the arrested, a Kerala police team brought the arrested to Karur and effected the seizure of 21,000 litres of spirit during a joint raid by both the Tamil Nadu and Kerala police, police added.

On seeing the police party, ten people hiding inside the godown, where the spirit was stored, managed to escape under the cover of darkness by scaling the compound wall of the premises. However, police nabbed watchman Kulandaisamy and Selvaraj of Tiruchirapalli, who had taken the premises on lease under the guise of running a washing soap manufacturing unit.

Police also seized two lorries, a van, and a car meant for transporting the rectified spirit.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that a gang under the leadership of Selvaraj used to smuggle the spirit to Kerala from Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka, the police said.

UNI RV RSA RK1110