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Gurugram: 300 cartons of spurious liquor seized, three shops sealed
The three shops were involved in packaging and selling IMFL in bottles of expensive liquor brands and transporting them to different states
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The Rewari police seized more than 300 cartons of spurious Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) from two licensed liquor shops in Gurugram and one in Manesar on Thursday and sealed the three shops, police officers aware of the matter said on Friday.
The three shops were involved in packaging and selling IMFL in bottles of expensive liquor brands and transporting them to different states across the country, said investigators.
The police were led to the three shops by a truck driver arrested on Tuesday for transporting IMFL along with empty bottles and caps of Old Monk rum, liquor refilling machinery, packing material, and holograms, according to the district excise officer.
HT in October reported on the rebottling and sale of premium liquor bottles in Gurugram and Faridabad. The report exposed a booming racket in the Millennium City where traders bought used, high-end liquor bottles from scrap dealers, filled them with cheap whisky, slapped on new labels and caps, sealed them and sold to online vendors, shops, and even bars. The report led the state government to order a crackdown on the spurious liquor business.
Read Here | Mix, rebottle, supply: The big liquor swindle in NCR
To be sure, the seizures during the current round of action involve spurious liquor, as compared to the counterfeiting operation HT uncovered in October.
Earlier this week, the Rewari Police’s crime branch received a tip about a truck transporting spurious liquor. Acting on the tip, they laid a trap and seized the truck en route from Manesar to Rajasthanon Tuesday.
Deepak Saharan, superintendent of police, Rewari, said the truck was seized at the Dharuhera stretch on National Highway-48. “On inspecting the truck, we found 100 cartons filled with liquor, machinery for filling liquor and stickers, bottles and caps of Old Monk rum,” said SP Saharan.
“A total of 306 boxes of fake liquor in the name of Mota Orange-Desi and Old Monk rum were recovered from the truck,” said sub inspector Vinod Tyagi, the investigating officer.
Three people were arrested on the scene, identified as Pawan Ram of Kasola in Rewari and Ajay Singh and Arjun Kumar of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, according to police officers.
“The driver told us about certain places where the empty liquor bottles would be filled and sold to liquor vends, based on which we began an investigation. The suspects told us that they were supplying the fake liquor in Gurugram, Manesar, and Sohna,” said SP Saharan.
Read Here: Gurugram launches ‘break the neck’ drive to crack down on liquor swindle
In a related development on Thursday night,the Rewari policeseized a truck smuggling more than 800 cartons (9,708 bottles) of IMFL in Nuh; however, the truck driver managed to flee the scene.
Amit Bhatia, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (West), said they received information from the Rewari police about liquor vends involved in filling spurious liquor. “We formed five teams and conducted raids on one liquor shop in IMT Manesar and two shops in Gurugram -- on Jail road and near the Sohna bus stand. We sealed the shops and sent our report to the head office. Senior officials will take a call on either cancelling their licence or registering a criminal case against them,” he said.
SI Tyagi added, “Fake liquor was recovered from the three shops. With the help of the excise department, samples were collected and sent to the lab.”
According to the police, a case was registered on Tuesday under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine any document or electronic record), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 6 (1) (C) and 72 A of Punjab Excise Act 1914.
After questioning the arrested suspects, the Rewari police busted an illegal liquor manufacturing unit in a farmhouse in Sehrawan village near Manesar, and arrested three more suspects, including two liquor contractors. They were identified as Naresh, who goes by a single name, and the two contractors, Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Nakhrola village and Prashant alias Sonu, who goes by a single name, a Gurugram resident.
The six arrested suspects are on five days’ police remand and are being questioned further.
“Our teams are conducting raids to apprehend others involved in the manufacturing and supply of spurious liquor,” added SP Saharan.
