CHENNAI: Sleuths of the Prohibition Enforcement Wing attached to the suburban Police Commissionerate arrested two persons and seized two lorries that had secret chambers in which 252 plastic cans containing over 8,000 litres of rectified spirit was found. The seized items are worth approximately `30 lakh.Acting on a tip-off, the PEW team headed by S Jeyakumar, ADC, intercepted two lorries at Raniamman check post, near Tambaram. The team found secret chambers behind the driver’s seat. Police unscrewed the chambers to find 252 plastic cans containing 8,820 litres of rectified spirit.“You cannot easily differentiate a lorry with a chamber and one without it. Either the spirit will be diluted and sold or it would be coloured and sold as spurious liquor, said a police official.The two drivers, Thangaraj (47) of Mudaliarpettai in Puducherry and Elumalai (31), Vanur Taluk, Villupuram district were arrested. Thangaraj is said to be a notorious RS smuggler.Police said Thangaraj smuggled spirit for the past six years from North India and brought it to Puducherry and Tamil Nadu border. Then he would shift them to small lorries and transport them to other places including Dindivanam, Chengelpet and Chennai where it would be supplied to the people in his network.He had been absconding for years and had an arrest warrant pending against him, the police added. Elumalai was working as a driver for Thangaraj.“They have smuggled the spirit from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. We will soon find out the receivers. There must also be a big source, we’ll soon get more information,” said Rajesh Das, Commissioner of Police, Suburban Police Commissionerate.140 Litres of Spirit Seized Near VandavasiAround 140 litres of spirit was seized during a vehicle check at Keezhkodungalur near Vandavasi on Saturday. The car was proceeding from Vandavasi to Melmaruvathur and did not stop, but took a turn towards the Velachery Village Road. Police chased the car, but the driver abandoned the vehicle at the village and escaped.Four cans containing 35 litres of spirit each were seized from the car. In Puducherry, 2,660 litres of rectified spirit, valued at `3 lakh, was seized from a lorry on Saturday.The excise officials conducted a vehicle check at the Gorimedu border based on a tip-off. They searched a mini-lorry parked in the area and found that it had a a chamber. Inside the chamber, they found seven cans of rectified spirit. The lorry was subsequently seized.
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