Police seize Haryana liquor worth Rs 1.5cr, arrest six

Patna: Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 1.5 crore was seized in Vaishali and Saran districts and six persons arrested on Friday night, police said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team intercepted a truck on National Highway 22 near Sarai in Vaishali district around 10.15pm and recovered a huge quantity of Haryana-made foreign liquor. The police later carried out raids at two other places and seized two trucks carrying foreign liquor.

A senior police officer said 1,500 cartons of foreign liquor were seized from the three trucks. Though the drivers and cleaners of the two trucks managed to dodge the police, the driver and cleaner of the third truck were nabbed.

The seized foreign liquor was valued at Rs 1 crore. “The arrested driver and cleaner of the truck are being questioned by senior officers. They will be produced in the local court after interrogation,” said station house officer of Sarai police station Raman Kumar.

In another operation, a police team arrested five persons and seized foreign liquor worth Rs 45 lakh from a truck when it was being transported from Haryana to be delivered in Saran district late on Friday night.

Police said a team of officers on night patrol intercepted a truck near Balia under the jurisdiction of Manjhi police station in Saran district and seized 600 cartons of illicit liquor. A truck driver, Sukhdeo Singh (of Punjab), and cleaner Bheru Lal (of Rajasthan) were among five persons arrested.

During interrogation, the arrested driver and cleaner – Sukhdev Singh and Bheru Lal – revealed that the consignment was despatched by liquor traders Rajesh Kumar, Vijendra Singh and Chand Singh. They, however, couldn’t disclose the name of the consignee.

On Friday, excise officials had seized 300 cartons of foreign liquor from a house located in Krishna Colony at Sasaram of Rohtas district. One person, identified as Tinku Kumar, stated to be the son of house owner Sudhir Singh, was arrested for illegally stocking foreign liquor.

The excise inspector of the region, Sanjay Choudhary, said the seizure was made from a VIP locality, where the official bungalows of senior police and administrative officials were located. Two senior excise officials also reside in the locality.

The state was declared dry in April 2016.

Courtesy: The Telegraph