Police raid illegal liquor outlets

Berhampur: In a crackdown on illegal manufacturing of country-made liquor, police unearthed 84 liquor production units and seized around 3,500 litres of country-made liquor in Ganjam district, an officer said on Saturday.

The police conducted raids in seven villages under Badapalli panchayat of Ganjam district’s Khallikote police station limits on Friday.

Police teams, led by Ganjam SP Suvendu Kumar Patra, conducted simultane-ous raids at Gundripalli, Marei Nuagon, Nuapalli, Badapalli, Debijhara, Kamarasingi and Chakasinghi villages. Around 20 persons, including 12 women, allegedly involved in the production of the illegal liquor, have been arrested, police said.

Police have also destroyed around 2 lakh litres of mahua pocha (raw material to prepare country liquor), 13 bags of mahua, water pump sets (5), aluminium pots (135) and storage drums (402). Several other distillation equipment were seized from the spots.

During the raids, police also seized two country-made guns, four crowbars and two motorcycles. Police said the value of the destroyed and seized items could be around Rs 10 lakh.

The SP said: “We had information about the production and distribution of illegal liquor in the area and conducted raids in all the villages.”