Police today claimed to have busted an illegal liquor manufacturing unit being run from basement of a house situated near a mineral water plant in Patikheda village near here.
Liquor worth Rs 50 lakh was seized from the spot and three persons were arrested in this regard during a raid conducted on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided the basement of the house, located near a women's toilet and the water plant, at Patikheda village under Industrial Area police station. Liquor worth Rs 50 lakh, hallmarks (of various country-liquor brands) and equipment for making the brew were recovered from the spot, Ratlam SP Avinash Sharma said.
Additional SP Prashant Choube said they were shocked to see the unit being operated from the basement of the house.
He said the entrance to the basement was hidden under sacks filled with fodder and when police removed them it found a wooden plank.
"Once that wooden plank was removed, police found an iron stairs going downwards, which led to the discovery of the distillery," Choube said.
During the operation, police recovered 8,000 litres of spirit stored in 14 drums, 180 boxes of country-made liquor, one lakh empty jute bags, a liquor-making machine along with labels and two loading vehicles, Sharma said.
He said police arrested Vikram Singh, Ajay Singh and Nepal Singh from the spot and produced them in a court today which remanded them in police custody till June 26.
