Thrissur: Excise sleuths on Thursday seized 72 litres of liquor intended for sale on 'Dry Days' and festival days at Kodakara from a man and woman who pretended to be a married couple. Parappurath Daniel (40) and Valiyakath Sahina (42) of Malaparamba in Kozhikode are the accused.

Thrissur Deputy Commissioner of Excise, C M Shanavas, received a tip-off that a couple were smuggling liquor from Mahe to Thrissur. According to a source with the Excise, the team got information that the couple regularly smuggled liquor from Mahe and sold it in the district. The accused were nabbed following a surveillance operation in Kodakara.

“During interrogation, it became clear that the duo pretended to be a married couple so that they would go unsuspected. The accused smuggled liquor at least thrice a week,” said an official. Officials said those who bought liquor from the accused would be arrested in the coming days.

Thrissur Assistant Commissioner of Excise Satheesh Kumar, Assistant Excise Inspector T G Mohanan, Preventive Officers K M Sajeev, M K Krishnaprasad, M S Sudheerkumar, T R Sunil, Vishal, Sijomon and Saneesh were part of the operation.