The Excise Department seized banned intoxicant products worth nearly ₹50 lakh during raids conducted at different locations in Kumily under Operation Thunder on Tuesday.

Around 4.30 pm, acting on a tip-off that a large quantity of banned intoxicants had been stored in sacks at a workshop in Rosapoonkandam, Excise officials conducted a raid and recovered 37,000 packets of prohibited intoxicants from an abandoned vehicle parked inside the workshop premises.

The workshop owner, who had taken the premises on lease, was questioned but claimed he had no knowledge of the contraband stored there.

Based on further leads, Excise officials carried out another search at a workshop in Onnam Mile, where they seized an additional 6,000 packets of banned intoxicant products from a vacant room. The owner of the workshop was also questioned and denied any involvement in the case.

Excise officials said they had obtained vital leads regarding those behind the racket and expressed confidence that the accused would be arrested soon. They added that the seized contraband would be destroyed after completing the required legal procedures.

The operation was led by Peerumedu Excise Inspector Rahul Raj and Vandiperiyar Range Excise Inspector K S Shyam, with the assistance of Assistant Excise Inspectors Rajkumar and Giji K. Gopal, and Civil Excise Officers Rajeev Bhaskar, Rajadurai, Ajith, Praveen, James Kattikkat, Deepu Kumar and M.D. Aneesh.