Kallakurichi police use drones to spot arrack dens in Kalvarayan hills

Brewing thrives as arrack is a cheap substitute for IMFL for many residents

The Kallakurichi district police have started using drones to track bootleggers and illicit arrack dens located deep in the Kalvarayan hills. A few villages in the hills have become a hotbed of arrack-brewing, say the police, who have spread their presence across remote hamlets and the forest fringes. But the brewing has been thriving as arrack is a cheap substitute for Indian Made Foreign Liquor for many residents, who have few job opportunities. Easy availability of water from rivulets in the forests, firewood and other raw materials has made distillation a flourishing business. Bootleggers purchase jaggery, a key ingredient, from shops at the foothills and in neighbouring taluks, the police said.