Kochi: A pre-dawn raid by an Excise enforcement squad from Idukki went badly wrong in Fort Kochi on Wednesday, when officials allegedly broke the lock of a house at Adhikarivalappu and tried to force open its windows, leaving a woman alone inside, terrified. The team had mistaken her residence for that of a man wanted in a narcotics case.

The incident, which occurred between 3.30 am and 5 am, triggered public outrage and reportedly prompted the department to order a departmental inquiry into the operation.

The four-member squad from Kattappana, dressed in plain clothes and including a woman officer, had arrived to execute an arrest warrant under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against an accused identified as Shiraz.

Believing they had identified the suspect’s residence using location data, two squad members reportedly scaled the compound wall to enter the premises.

However, the rented house belonged to a couple from Malappuram. The woman was sleeping alone as her husband was away on a night shift.

The officials allegedly banged on the door and windows, demanding that the door be opened. Fearing a break-in, the woman was left panic-stricken. The squad reportedly broke the front door’s padlock, attempted to pry open a window and damaged flowerpots and garden plants while moving around the courtyard.

The commotion alerted the property owner staying nearby, who intervened and told the officials that a woman was alone inside and that the person they were looking for did not live there.

The frightened woman called her husband, who rushed home from work and found the plain-clothes team still outside the house.

When the squad compared a photograph of the wanted accused with the man, the officials realised they had raided the wrong residence. However, they reportedly refused to show their official identity cards when he demanded proof that they were genuine law enforcement personnel.

A video of the confrontation, which subsequently circulated on social media, captured the husband questioning the officials.

“At what time did you come? Are you a police officer? On what basis did you assume Shiraz is here? There is a limit to making fools out of people! I am rushing here from my workplace! What sort of high-handedness is this you are displaying?! That is my wife inside. How does a ‘mistake’ happen like this? Is this an oversight? Coming at 5 o'clock and demanding the door be opened... Where are your ID cards? ” the furious man is seen asking in the video.

It later emerged that the accused, Shiraz, lived in a different house just a few doors behind the couple’s residence in the same neighbourhood.

The Excise squad eventually withdrew, maintaining that it had gone to execute an arrest warrant and backed off once it established that the suspect was not there. The officials denied any physical assault or violence and said they had informed Fort Kochi police about the mistaken raid while returning.

The couple later approached Fort Kochi police seeking action against the team. Police confirmed that the squad had raided the wrong house but said the matter was being verified. So far, no FIR has been registered.