Bhubaneswar: Continuing the crackdown on illegal activities ahead of the polls, the Commissionerate Police busted a hooch manufacturing unit at Salia Sahi under the jurisdiction of Maitri Vihar police station, and arrested five persons in that connection, Friday.
The arrested were identified as Biswanath Badaseth, Jaya Chandra Pradhan, Sapan Soren, Ananta Kadamseth and Bijay Kumar Marandi, said a senior police official, adding that the accused are all locals. ACP (Zone V) Goutam Kishan said 1,080 litres of hooch, six LPG cylinders, as many gas stoves and storage containers were seized from the den. Following the seizure, samples of the illicit brew have been sent to the forensic lab for examination, he added. Kishan stated that the accused procured inferior quality jaggery to make the alcohol. The police have launched an investigation to find more details about the case, he added. The Maitri Vihar police booked the accused under Sections 272, 273 and 52 (A) of Excise Act and produced them before a local court for remand.