Man posts video of ‘illicit liquor sale’ at Tasmac outlet to settle scores, held

COIMBATORE: Salem rural police arrested a man for allegedly circulating a video purportedly showing the sale of illicit liquor at a Tasmac outlet near Attur in Salem district. Police said the suspect did this to settle scores with his rival who continued to operate a Tasmac bar even after the licence expired one year ago. The suspect and his rival belong to the DMK, police said.

Ravi alias Pambu Ravi (42) of Valayamadevi Panchayat in Attur was arrested after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami shared a video on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle alleging illicit liquor was being sold in a Tasmac bar.

In the video, the man is seen entering a Tasmac bar and taking packets of illicit liquor and an IMFL bottle from a bag. He then says illicit liquor is sold for Rs 100 per packet. Pointing to the video, Palaniswami said the DMK government did not learn lessons from last year’s Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.

Based on EPS’s post, Salem rural police investigated the matter and said Ravi had shot a fake video to settle scores with his business rival.

Speaking to TNIE, Gautam Goyal, Superintendent of Police, Salem district said, “The bar in the video was run by Jothivel. Ravi also runs a Tasmac bar in the locality. The licences of both bars expired a year ago, but Jothivel continued to sell alcohol. Upset by this, Ravi sent his son to Kallakurichi a few days ago and purchased a few packets of illicit liquor. On Tuesday, he visited Jothivel’s bar with the liquor packets and shot the video with his friend’s help to show illicit liquor was sold there. After investigation, Ravi was arrested. Also, we arrested Jothivel for running an unauthorized bar. They were sent to remand on Wednesday morning.”

Police are on the look out for a few more suspects in the case. A team of police personnel from Kallakurichi arrived in Salem to hold inquiry with Ravi regarding the source of illicit liquor.