Liquor in timber lorry

Patna: Bihta police on Wednesday recovered 238 liquor cartons in a truck laden with timber, demonstrating how liquor smugglers are devising new tactics by the day to transport country-made and Indian-made foreign liquor.

Following intelligence inputs, the police recovered the liquor cartons from the Haryana-registered truck from Amhara village. Bihta police station house officer Ranjit Kumar Singh said the smugglers were bringing the liquor from the northern state for delivery to four persons in Bihta and Patna.

“Early on Wednesday morning Bihta police raided a place in Amhara and recovered the liquor consignment. The driver, helper, and three other persons to whom the liquor was to be delivered, however, managed to escape,” said Singh, adding that the fourth person who was expecting delivery, Mintu Yadav, was arrested.

“The liquor was kept in the truck, hidden beneath the timber which were being delivered to a sawmill in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand,” added Singh.

Such frequent liquor raids and subsequent recovery of cartons and bottles also prove how illegal trade in country-made and Indian-made foreign liquor continues unabated in the state since prohibition was clamped in April two years ago.

Bihta police said the liquor consignment seized on Wednesday was worth more than Rs 10 lakh.

Sources said Mintu has revealed names of persons to whom the liquor was to be supplied and also of the liquor smugglers from Haryana.

In another case, Kadamkuan police arrested Saidpur resident Mukesh Sharma, allegedly the nephew of a district judge, on charges of liquor consumption.

Kadamkuan police station house officer Ajay Kumar said: “Police on Tuesday evening received information about a brawl between two groups. On reaching the spot, the police found Mukesh clashing under the influence of liquor.”

Courtesy: The Telegraph