Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bootlegging is on the wane: police

Staff Reporter

Crackdown, awareness drive led to success

CHENNAI : Effective policing and regular interaction by the members of prohibition vigilance committees with the youth, among other target groups, in rural pockets has started fetching results, law enforces in the city say.

Brewing-buying-selling illicit arrack is slowly becoming a thing of the past in many suburban areas of the city, the police claim.

A couple of months ago, a meeting of the top brass of the Chennai police resolved to have ID arrack sales eliminated.

As a first step, prohibition vigilance committees were formed in Ambattur, Maduravoyal, Villivakkam, Rajamangalam among other pockets in the central zone. The officers spoke on the ills of ID arrack and warned of the punishment in the event of arrest.

Speaking to The Hindu on Friday, a senior officer in the Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) said that while 49 cases were booked in June 2006, the number had fallen to 15 in July. Apart from effective vigil by police in the respective station limits, the cooperation extended by the prohibition vigilance committee members had paved the way for the success.

The committee members comprise the respective panchayat board presidents, local SHOs, public and other prominent citizens from the area, he added. The officer further said that in June, the police seized and destroyed 2,500 litres of fermented wash and 3,369 litres of ID arrack. However, in July, the volume of seizure had fallen to 600 litres of fermented wash and 317 litres of ID arrack.

Overall, the PEW police seized and destroyed 18,600 litres of fermented wash in the city and registered 101 cases, and arrested 59 men and 29 women in July. Prohibition offences are expected to fall further in the coming months with the vigilance committee members contemplating provision of alternative employment for former bootleggers and their dependents, a senior officer said.

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