Pathanamthitta: Giving a setback to the state government, production of Jawan rum has stopped. It is reported that the Kerala government earned a daily revenue of Rs 3 cr from the sale of Jawan rum which is produced at Travancore Sugars and Chemicals Ltd (TSCL) in Pulikeezhu here.

The operation of TSCL was interrupted after some higher officials were booked in a spirit theft case. The spirit taken to the distillery unit of TSCL was illegally diverted. Following the case, the operation of the unit was not possible with officials not present to supervise the production.

Temporary workers also left the unit after bottling the liquor. A chemist should purchase the spirit to resume the production in the unit.

General manager Alex P Abraham, personal manager Sheheem and production manager Megha Murali are booked in the spirit theft case.

But the Beverages Corporation didn’t initiate any action against the officials or arrange any alternative mechanism to resume production.

Earlier, TSCL produced 54,000 litres of Jawan rum per day. 6000 cases including 9 bottles were filled daily. 64 Kudumbashree members were engaged in bottling the rum.

It is reported that the government earned ten-fold profit from Jawan rum sale.