Excise sleuths in Karnataka bust inter-state illicit liquor racket, 3 held

The Excise Department sleuths here have busted an inter-state illicit liquor racket and arrested three persons from near Talapady bordering Kerala.

In a raid conducted under the leadership of Excise Department Deputy Commissioner T M Srinivas, the officials seized 2,240 litres of spirit, 222 litres of fake brandy and a machine used for packing from a house at Santya in Kinya panchayat limits of Dakshina Kannada district.

In a separate raid, 210 litres of spirit, 20 litres of fake brandy, 2.24 litres of fake Prestige whisky and an Innova car carrying 70 litres of spirit were seized from a house near Talapady mosque, Excise Department sources said on Wednesday.

The arrested persons have been identified as Sathish of Talapady, Naushad and Ansif, both residents of Kunjathur. Another accused, Nithyananda Bhandary, managed to escape during the raid.

The Excise team is in the process of identifying all those involved in the racket, sources said.