42,000 bottles of smuggled foreign liquor seized in Gurugram

Deputy excise and taxation commissioner Amit Bhatia said that this is the largest illegal stock of foreign liquor ever seized in Haryana

Updated on: Dec 10, 2025, 10:50:56 IST

By Leena Dhankhar

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A Haryana police and the excise department team on Tuesday raided a liquor shop operating under the name “Theka” in Gurugram and recovered nearly 42,000 bottles of foreign alcohol allegedly smuggled into India, estimated to be worth ₹10 crore in the black market.

A Gurugram police and the excise department team recovered the bottles. (X)

Deputy excise and taxation commissioner Amit Bhatia said that this is the largest illegal stock of foreign liquor ever seized in Haryana. He added that more raids and arrests are expected as the investigation progresses.

Officials said the seized stock was smuggled into India without paying customs or excise duty. They added that none of the bottles carried the mandatory Haryana excise hologram, confirming that the consignment was entirely illegal.

Alcohol bottles of premium international brands retailing between ₹5,000 and ₹1.5 lakh per bottle were recovered. Officials believe the liquor was routed through airports using organised smuggling channels and sold at high margins to premium customers in Gurugram.

Bhatia said his team grew suspicious during routine checks when several bottles were found without holograms. “Upon inspecting the entire premises, we recovered 3,921 cartons of foreign liquor — each containing 6 to 12 bottles — along with 176 loose bottles. All stock has been seized. An FIR [first information report] has been registered, and further investigation is underway,” he said.

Officials said that the government had issued a liquor licence for an outlet to a man identified as Surinder Singh after he deposited a licence fee of ₹44 crore this year. The operator allegedly used the legitimate licence as a cover to sell large quantities of smuggled liquor. Under excise rules, the shop may now face sealing, licence cancellation, and forfeiture of deposited fees.

Excise officials said the illicit sales caused crores in revenue loss to the state. They cited questioning of employees and said the outlet routinely generated ₹50–60 lakh in daily sales, catering primarily to high-profile customers seeking expensive imported brands. The shop owner reportedly fled as soon as news of the raid spread.

Preliminary inquiries suggest links between smuggling networks operating across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

Officials said the illegal trade is increasingly masked under the guise of duty-free purchases and online channels, calling for stricter enforcement across borders

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leena Dhankhar
Leena Dhankhar is Senior Editor and Bureau Chief, Gurugram, at Hindustan Times, where she has spent over 17 years chronicling the transformation of one of India's fastest-growing urban regions. From starting her career as a crime reporter to leading the Gurugram bureau, her journalism has been defined by investigative reporting, in-depth storytelling and an unwavering focus on public interest. Over nearly two decades, she has reported extensively across crime, politics, civic governance, elections, real estate, environment, courts, sports, education and entertainment, covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Palwal. Her reporting has exposed several major scams and systemic failures, including insurance frauds, waste management irregularities, illegal arms manufacturing units in Nuh, illegal mining in the Aravallis, organised crime networks and governance lapses affecting millions of residents. Known for her investigative work and exclusive stories, Leena has reported on high-impact national issues, including the Nicaragua charter flight carrying Indian migrants that was turned back amid allegations of human trafficking, exposing the growing network of illegal immigration rackets. Her work has also focused on gang wars, prison administration, juvenile crime, women and child protection systems, the functioning of the Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee, and environmental challenges such as pollution, waterlogging and deteriorating civic infrastructure. Beyond hard news, Leena has extensively documented Haryana's rich heritage, forests and wildlife, bringing attention to the state's historical landmarks, biodiversity, conservation efforts and ecological challenges through immersive reportage and feature writing. Her journalism has consistently gone beyond breaking news. She has documented Gurugram's rapid urbanisation through long-form narratives and enterprise reporting on issues ranging from pothole-ridden roads, flooding and waste management to the changing social fabric of India's Millennium City. She also writes widely read feature columns, including The Outsider, Changemaker, and Concern for Gurugram, profiling people, places and ideas shaping the city's identity. Leena is the author of Gurugram School Murder, published by Juggernaut Books, a deeply reported account of one of India's most high-profile school murder investigations. She is currently working on her second book, an investigative work exploring some of India's most significant scams and fraud investigations. Beyond print journalism, she has expanded her storytelling through public speaking and digital media. She is a TEDx speaker and has produced podcasts exploring Gurugram's transformation, civic challenges and untold stories. Her work reflects a commitment to narrative journalism that combines rigorous reporting with compelling storytelling. A law graduate with an MBA in Human Resources, Leena brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her reporting, particularly on governance, public policy and legal affairs. She has travelled extensively across India to pursue investigative assignments, often reporting from remote locations and conflict-prone areas in search of stories that matter.Read More

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