By IANS
Kannur (Kerala) : Excise department officials Thursday seized 7,104 litres of rectified spirit from a truck at Kiliyanthara checkpost, 80 km from here.
Kiliyanthara, a remote village on Kerala-Karnataka border in Kannur district, is about 550 km from state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
“The consignment is worth Rs.2.1 million ($53,259),” K.V. Sachetanan, assistant commissioner of excise department, told IANS.
The spirit was found in 222 jerry cans hidden under a load of shallots. The truck was coming from Mumbai and proceeding to Kozhikode. The excise officials arrested truck driver Rajesh Kumar Jha, a native of Pune, Maharashtra. Two others in the truck escaped.
“The diluted spirit is sold as liquor and is a banned substance in the state. The smugglers are bringing spirit from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as spirit is unavailable in Karnataka following the arrack ban,” said the official.