Date:03/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/03/stories/2008040355270600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Rectified spirit seized

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: Police arrested three persons on Tuesday on charges of cheating, forgery and transporting rectified spirit. The sports utility vehicle (SUV), in which they were travelling, is also suspected to be a stolen vehicle from Pune.

The vehicle, from which three containers of a total of 105 litres of rectified spirit were seized, was intercepted during a night patrol check on Monday by the Sembium police. The vehicle’s documents, including the registration certificate, were found to be forged. As the statements of the three accused were contradictory, the police officers detained them for questioning.

The three were identified as P.Krishnakumar (32) of Ramalingam Colony, Madhavaram, J.Karthik (21) of Vanchinathan 2nd Street, Perambur, and M.Jagan (23) of Chengalvarayan Street, Perambur. Though the vehicle had a TN (Tamil Nadu) registration, police inquiries showed that the SUV was registered in Pune. A senior police officer said that the three-member gang had erased the original engine and chassis numbers from the vehicle and replaced them with the numbers of a condemned two-wheeler. .

They were produced before a city court which remanded them to judicial custody.