Bihar court sentences Darbhanga man caught selling liquor to 5 years in jail

Gopal Mahto, the Darbhanga man convicted under Bihar’s prohibition law, was hidden the bottles under a straw mound

DARBHANGA: A sessions court in Bihar’s Darbhanga district has sentenced a man to five years in prison for possession and selling liquor in 2018 and imposed a ₹1 lakh fine, a government lawyer said on Wednesday.

Police said Gopal Mahto was booked in April 2018 on charges of possession and sale of liquor (HT File/Representative image)

Additional public prosecutor Hemant Kumar said Gopal Mahto of Chakka village was convicted under Section 30 (a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, relating to the possession, purchase and sale of liquor. The offence is punishable with a minimum jail term of five years.

Gopal Mahto was booked on April 9, 2018, after the police found 243 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in his cowshed. The liquor was hidden under a straw mound.

Meanwhile, the district police seized 375 bottles of illicit liquor from New Khajasarai Colony under Laheriasarai early on Wednesday morning. Sub divisional police officer (Sadar) Amit Kumar said the bottles were hidden in a pit near the premises of a resident, Gourab Kumar in New Khajasarai Colony. The liquor smuggler managed to dodge the police, he said.