KOLLAM: In a major haul, the Excise officials seized around 4000 litres of illegal spirit from Karavaloor near Punalur on Wednesday evening. Five persons and three vehicles were taken into custody in this connection. Ajayan,34, of Ezhukone, Anil,40, of Karavaloor, Siddique,27, of Kilikolloor, Vipin,27, of Kililoolloor and Reji,37, of Pulamon were the arrested. The gang used the spirit to brew rum at a secret centre suspected by Excise officials to be located in Munreothuruthu near here. A string of operations led to the busting of the gang and seizure of the illegally stored spirit which is valued at over Rs 8 lakh in the wholesale market, Excise CI Teny Antony, who led the operation, told ‘Express’. Acting upon intelligence information, the Excise officials took into custody a car carrying around 15 containers of spirit from Padappakkara and took two persons into custody on Wednesday morning. Fourteen cans of spirit were seized from their Maruthi 800 car. Inputs from the duo helped to net Ajayan, the kingpin of the gang. His Maruthi Swift car has been taken into custody, along with four cans of spirit. One week ago, 17 bottles of illicit foreign liquor were seized from a person at Munerothruthu and this was crucial in tracing the gang. Excise personnel had strengthened the surveillance in the area since then. The spirit was been stored in 100 cans at an uninhabited house in Punalur located amidst a rubber plantation and poultry farm, Teny Antony said. The members of the house had died some months ago in an accident in Ezhukone in December last. Anil, who is a distant relative of the family, is the present owner of the house.
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