440 liquor boxes in milk tanker

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 24

The crime branch of the UT police today nabbed a man for allegedly smuggling liquor to Gujarat in a milk tanker.

A team comprising Inspector Ranjit Singh and ASI Rajinder Singh Dhanda was patrolling in the city when they received information regarding liquor being smuggled from Chandigarh in a milk tanker bearing a Gujarat number.

The police said they had information that the liquor to be smuggled would be loaded at the Industrial Area, Phase I, and would be delivered in Gujarat. Accordingly, they laid a naka near the Poultry Farm chowk and stopped the vehicle.

During checking, the police found 440 liquor boxes containing 21,120 quarters of whisky, which were concealed in a tank. The driver, Gaurav Khatri (36), a resident of Phase V, Mohali, was arrested. The driver disclosed that the liquor was being supplied to Gujarat on the directions of the owner of a liquor factory in the Industrial Area.

Sources said the police then raided the factory, which was found to be locked and the owner was also absconding.

The bootleggers had written ‘milk not for sale’ on the vehicle to avoid any suspicion. The investigation also revealed that liquor had been smuggled into Gujarat several times in the past.