Illegal liquor factory busted in Greater Noida, four arrested

An STF team, patrolling the Greater Noida area, received a tip-off about the factory and raided it leading to nabbing of suspects

Greater Noida: The special task force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has uncovered an illegal liquor manufacturing unit in Tilapta area of Greater Noida, and arrested four people for alleged production and distribution of adulterated country-made and foreign liquor, officers said on Monday.

During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had been involved in the illicit production of both country and foreign liquor for several months and used to source 100% (pure) alcohol or spirit from Rampur district. (Representative image)

An STF team conducted the raid on Sunday afternoon and arrested the suspects identified as Nikhil Soni, Amit Yadav, Govind Chaurasia and Kamalkant (single name) Kanpur near the UP State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDC) site C in Surajpur area.

“The STF team, patrolling the Greater Noida area, received a tip-off about an illegal factory of adulterated country liquor at a house. The team raided it and apprehended the suspects, leading to the recovery of 8 boxes (292 bottles) of illegal liquor, along with equipment used in the production process,” UP STF officers said requesting anonymity.

“During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had been involved in the illicit production of both country and foreign liquor for several months and used to source 100% (pure) alcohol or spirit from Rampur district. Thereafter, they would dilute it with water before adding colour and essence to copy the appearance and taste of a genuine liquor. They also used a meter to adjust the alcohol concentration to match that of legitimate brands,” officers said.

The counterfeit liquor was then bottled, complete with forged holograms of the Excise Department, and sold at a lower price to various liquor shops in the state. The gang also supplied illegal liquor to numerous unauthorised sellers, said officers, adding: “The gang had previously operated from a rented factory in the UPSIDC Secunderabad Industrial Area in Bulandshahr district. But, due to inadequate facilities, they relocated to the current factory in the UPSIDC Site C area in Surajpur.”

The main suspect, Kamalkant, and his aides have been charged under section 274 (Adulteration of food or drink), 275 (Sale of noxious food or drink), 318(4) (cheating), 338 (forgery), 340(2), 342(20) (use of forged documents) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and 60/63/73 of the UP Excise Act and the Copyright Act.

Authorities are carrying out further probe to identify other members of the racket.