Illicit liquor worth ₹50 lakh seized ahead of LS polls

A case has been registered against an unknown person under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and sections 60, 63 and 72 of the Excise Act

GREATER NOIDA: A joint team of Gautam Budh Nagar district excise department and Greater Noida police seized over 650 cartons of illicit liquor, estimated to be worth ₹50 lakh, from Kasna area of Greater Noida late Friday night, officials said on Saturday.

The excise team has intensified checking on the inter-state borders in the wake of upcoming Lok Sabha elections. (HT Photo)

As per officials, the liquor was actually made for sale in Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh. It was being smuggled to Bihar.

“On Friday night, we received information of liquor smuggling on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Sirsa village. A team reached there, and stopped a truck for checking. The team found a huge quantity of liquor made for sale in Punjab in the truck,” said district excise officer (Gautam Budh Nagar) Subodh Kumar.

The excise team has intensified checking on the inter-state borders in the wake of upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the officer added.

According to officials, the seized liquor included over 80,000 bottles of different brands of vodka and whiskey and 2,400 beer bottles.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that the truck was bound for Bihar for distribution in the upcoming election. Bihar is a dry state and sale and purchase of liquor is banned there,” said Kumar.

The truck driver, however, managed to escape.

“When the truck was stopped by the team, the driver initially said that there were some medicines in the truck. He parked the truck on the roadside, and said that he was going to bring the papers of the consignment. However, he fled. We later found a huge quantity of liquor inside it,” said Excise inspector Nambar Singh, who filed a police complaint at Kasna Police Station in the matter.

A case has been registered against an unknown person under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 60, 63 and 72 of the Excise Act, said station house officer (Kasna police station) Viduet Goel.

“We have seized the truck and liquor, and, investigating,” the officer added.