Truck with ‘essential goods’ tag intercepted in Pune, 1000 litres of country-made liquor found inside

Pune police laid a trap and arrested three people for the illegal liquor trade.

A truck with “essential services” tag was found to be carrying 1000 litres of country-made alcohol by Pune Police on Friday evening. 25 cans of 40 litres each, full of locally produced alcohol and covered with grass to feed cattle, were seized from the truck. The police also found 26 empty cans in the tempo truck registered in Baramati region.

Pune police was acting on a tip-off that a man with history of illegal liquor trade was smuggling alcohol in the name of essential goods. (HT Photo)

Acting on a tip-off, the police set up a trap along BT Kawade Road, where the tempo truck was intercepted leading to the arrest of three people - Chandu Ananda Sasne, 45, Liyakat Abbas Shaikh, 31 and the business owner George Ryan Unnittan,46--- all residents of Ghorpadigaon.

One other person identified as Satish Bhimrao Bhalsingh, a resident of Daund, is on the run from the police.

The driver Sasne and owner Unnittan have both been named in 6 earlier cases involving the illegal sale of alcohol, according to police records.

A case under Section 269, 270, 273 of Indian Penal Code along with Section 51(b) of the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 11 of Maharashtra Covid19 Regulations and Section 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 was registered against the four at Mundhwa police station.