962 held in central dists for making, selling illicit liquor

Trichy: Central zone police have arrested 962 accused from the nine districts under their jurisdiction in connection with manufacture and sale of illicit liquor including arrack in the past three days. IG central zone G Karthikeyan said in a statement on Wednesday that vehicle checking has been intensified in Tiruvarur, Nagappattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts bordering Puducherry as part of the drive.Additional vehicle check posts have been set up in addition to the eight state check posts in the areas to conduct vehicle checking. In the three days, police seized 19,162 litres of arrack made in Puducherry, 102 litres of locally brewed arrack, 1,389 litres of fermented sap, 450 litres of toddy. Police also seized 1,268 litres of IMFL sold in the black market and 15 vehicles used by the accused. Police booked 959 cases with regard to the possession of illicit arrack made locally as well as in Puducherry, fermented sap and toddy. Karur topped with the arrest of 159 accused followed by Thanjavur with 149, Tiruvarur with 143, Trichy with 102, Nagappattinam with 96, Pudukottai with 90, Mayiladuthurai with 77, Perambalur with 73 accused and Ariyalur with 70 accused. IGP Karthikeyan told TOI that central zone police had already initiated touch action against frequent offenders in illicit arrack brewing and detained 31 offenders under the Goondas Act since January. On the reason for the preference of arrack over Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) available in Tasmac shops, the IGP said the cheaper price of packed arrack attracted tipplers. He said the poisonous methanol was not found during the drive.