Weeks before the spurious liquor tragedy in Kallakurichi district, which has claimed 63 lives so far, the police had received a specific alert to act against habitual bootleggers: Joseph Raja, Chinnadurai, Govindaraj, alias Kannukutty, among others.
Explaining how the suspects were transporting and selling illicit arrack in the region, the Central Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Enforcement Wing here had written to the local police to restrain them from their involvement in bootlegging, police sources told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Acknowledging the intelligence shared, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Kallakurichi, replied that the persons mentioned in the report were not to be found in the specified addresses, and their movements would be closely watched. However, no further action was taken till the tragedy unfolded on June 18, the sources added.
The CIU is led by one Superintendent of Police and assisted by two DSPs, six Inspectors, and eight Sub-Inspectors, among others. The Additional Director-General of Police, Enforcement Wing, and a handful of senior police officers under him at the headquarters provide policy directions pertaining to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act and share inputs with Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) officers and personnel in all cities/districts who are under the administrative control of the respective Commissioner/Superintendent of Police (SP).
Police put on alert
A senior police officer said that the control on PEW officials and their staff was vested with the concerned Commissioner/SP who also took decisions on performance appraisal, and postings, among others. before the hooch tragedy, the CIU gathered inputs that specific persons were actively engaged in procuring, transporting, and selling illicit arrack, and informed the local police. “After the hooch tragedy in May 2023 in Marakkanam and Chengalpattu that killed 23 people, inputs on specific activities of prime suspects Joseph Raja, Chinnadurai, and Govindaraj were shared. Of them, Joseph Raja was detained earlier under the Bootleggers Act in November 2021 and Chinnadurai under the same Act in February 2022. The main accused who sold methanol-laced illicit liquor, Govindaraj, was booked in multiple cases in the last two years,” the officer said.
On the progress of the investigation in the case by the Crime Branch-CID, he said the agency had registered three cases and arrested 21 persons so far. Around 600 litres of unused liquor containing methanol has been seized.
Asked whether there was a possibility of a sabotage in the incident considering the business rivalry in the region, the officer said the CB-CID was probing all angles. Rules pertaining to procurement and possession of methanol were amended in 2002. After this, all transactions in the chemical and stock inspection were being done by Excise and PEW officers, he said.
Parrying questions on the shortage of hands for gathering intelligence on arrack manufacturers/sellers or conducting combing operations in inaccessible terrains, the officer said the force had sufficient manpower.
‘Force withdrawn’
A former Director-General of Police, who headed the Prohibition Wing as its ADGP, said three companies of the Tamil Nadu Special Police were at his disposal to conduct raids and combing operations in Villupuram and Vellore, especially in terrains like those of the Kalvarayan Hills. However, the force was later withdrawn.
