Popular 'Jawan' liquor production stopped; Rs 78 crore loss suffered; Excise Minister orders probe

THIRUVANNATHAPURAM: Excise Minister M Liju said he will consider an investigation into whether there is a possibility of a sabotage attempt behind the sudden halt in the production of Jawan liquor. The minister, while responding to a private channel, said that he has instructed an investigation to find the role of other liquor magnates behind Jawan ceasing production and to check whether they made any profit from it.

“There should never be a shortage of packing materials. There has been a serious lapse at the official level. Action will be taken immediately after receiving the investigation report of the Tax Secretary.” The Excise Minister's response came after the production of government liquor Jawan rum was stopped for about two weeks at Travancore Sugars and Chemicals in Thiruvalla.

The production of liquor was stopped, citing a shortage of packing materials. One lakh litres of liquor are produced here daily. The price of one litre of Jawan liquor is Rs 650. The daily turnover is Rs 6.5 crore. It is estimated that the loss of income for 12 days is around Rs 78 crore.