Mundakayam: The excise and police have launched a massive drive against illicit brewing of liquor in the hill areas of Kottayam district in view of the upcoming Onam festivities. The authorities destroyed three such brewing centres in the eastern parts of the district last week based tip-offs that hooch produced there was being sold even in the western region. The brewing is rampant in the forest areas near the state border, taking advantage of the threat of wild animals, and in thinly-populated localities.

Major brewing centres include inaccessible forest areas such as Kombukuthy, Mathamba, Kuppakkayam ans Chennappara. The bootleggers take advantage of the thick woods and dilapidated forest paths to carry out their illegal activity unhindered, said authorities.

As per officials, the ‘koda’ required to brew hooch is stored in large drums inside the forest and converted to illegal liquor after 10 days. The hooch is sold at ₹800 to 1,500 a litre, depending on its quality, they added. A large network operates behind these activities.

Meanwhile, the hill areas of Kottayam are witnessing regular raids by excise and police teams, which follow the workers employed by bootleggers to carry their goods. However, the culprits are rarely brought before the law as the illegal brewing takes place with much precaution. There are people who keep a watch on every path to the forest and warn the bootleggers of the arrival of all vehicles. This enables the brewers to escape whenever excise or police teams make a move against them. Abandoned quarters of estate workers in the area are another haunt of bootleggers.

The three recent cases filed by the authorities related to seizure of 305 litres of ‘koda’ from an uninhabited house at Plappally in Koottikkal, 200 litres from Kuppakkayam in TR&T estate which led to the arrest of a person named Koppukulangara Jayachandran and 70 litres from Angel Valley in Erumely. The raids were carried out by teams led by excise inspector K H Rajeev as part of the special Onam drive.

Authorities said that Onam provides a bonanza for illegal hooch brewers, who also receive regular orders from organisers of weddings and other functions. A mafia also operates in the hilly areas to conduct ‘home delivery’ of illegal liquor, said officials.

Phone numbers to tip-off excise
Excise circle inspector K B Binu said that the public could convey information on manufacture of hooch to the authorities over the following phone numbers: 9447927927 (Kanjirappally) and 9496499299 (Erumely).