As liquor shops remain shut in view of the COVID-19 lockdown, the brewing of illicit arrack has become widespread in several parts of the State, keeping the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing (PEW) personnel on their toes.
Till mid-April, as many as 211 bootleggers had been identified across the State and 99 persons arrested for offences under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, PEW officials said. Around 110 more persons were yet to be arrested, they added. Using drones, the police have been detecting illegal distillation of arrack in hills, forests and orchards. A top PEW officer said, “Over the last 40 days, we have seized lakhs of litres of arrack and over 1,000 vehicles. We are conducting raids in all districts.” The special unit is planning to procure more drones to carry out surveillance of border areas. It recently detected a case of fermented wash being concealed inside a water tanker in a village near Thiruttani. The drone came in handy to nab the smugglers, who had brought huge plastic bags filled with arrack from Andhra Pradesh.
Online videos
In Chennai, the non-availability of alcoholic drinks has prompted tipplers to brew liquor by taking a cue from how-to videos posted on social media platforms.
In Neelankarai, two youths prepared arrack with the help of videos posted on YouTube. In a similar incident, Raja, a resident of Teynampet, and his friend George Joseph, made use of TikTok videos to brew arrack at home, only to be caught by the police, who were tipped off by their neighbours.
In Cuddalore district, three daily-wagers procured methanol from a factory in Sipcot and consumed it as a substitute for liquor. In Chengalpattu, three habitual drinkers died after consuming paint varnish mixed with water as a substitute for liquor. In Pudukottai district, three alcoholics died after consuming soft drinks mixed with an after-shave lotion.
The Prohibition and Excise Department has written to factories dealing in methanol, asking them to take steps to stop pilferage.
The police are constantly monitoring and arresting people for illegally stocking Indian-made foreign liquor bottles and selling them at exorbitant rates. “Some bar owners are trying to sell bottles to cash in on the lockdown. We arrest and remand them,” a police officer said.