Bhayandar: Unfazed by the recent crackdown initiated against them by the Thane (rural) police, the notorious hooch mafia not only continues to raze its ugly head in the region, but seems to have upgraded their brewing apparatus in order to avoid prying eyes. Acting on a tip-off, a special team under the instructions of SP Dr. Shivaji Rathod and Addl SP Sanjay Patil, swooped down on the illicit liquor distilling unit, running deep into the vast mangrove belts in Murdha village on Thursday.
Interestingly, the operators of the brewing unit were found to be using gas powered furnaces and other apparatus, instead of the traditional wood-fuelled manual units to minimise smoke emission and avoid police action. The police team seized and destroyed multiple barrels of hooch along with ingredients including 8,200 litres of raw liquor, fermented jaggery wash, motor pumps to draw water, diesel and other manufacturing equipment, all worth more than 4.5 lakh.
A case under section 65-C (constructs or works any distillery or brewery) of the Bombay Prohibition Act has been registered against two bootleggers identified as Avinash Patil and Raju Koli who managed to escape the police dragnet. While further investigations were on into the case, most of these brewing dens are said to be located in deep forest areas and marshy land to prevent the smoke from being detected.
