951 boxes of illegal liquor seized in Panipat village

Panipat, February 24

As many as 951 boxes of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) were recovered from a truck parked in the grain market in Sanoli Khurd village. The liquor was manufactured for sale in Chandigarh only.

The truck driver and owners ran away, leaving the truck behind. The police suspect that the liquor was to be smuggled to the banned states – Bihar or Gujrat.

The Sanoli police have registered a case under various sections of the IPC and Excise Act and begun a probe into the matter.

WAS MEANT FOR SALE IN CHANDIGARH

The approximate cost of the seized liquor is Rs 30 lakh. It is clear that the liquor was brought here to smuggle as it was manufactured for sale in Chandigarh only. — Ankit Kumar, SHO

As per the available information, the police have recovered a total of 951 boxes of illegal liquor of which 174 boxes contained 1,680 bottles with Imperial Blue mark, 30 boxes contained 360 bottles with McDowells mark, four boxes contained 48 bottles of Royal Ace, 190 boxes contained 4,560 bottles (half) with Imperial Blue mark, 90 boxes contained 2,160 bottles (half) with McDowells mark, 247 boxes contained 11,856 bottles (quarter) with Imperial Blue mark and 250 boxes contained 12,000 bottles (quarter) with McDowells mark.

As per the police, all boxes contained stickers with ‘Sale for Chandigarh only, can’t be sold out of Chandigarh’.

SI Krishan Kumar, CIA-3, along with his team, was patrolling near Kurar village turn on the Panipat-Sanoli road on Thursday. The team received a tip-off about a truck suspiciously parked near the BDPO office at the grain market in Sanoli Khurd. Following the tip-off, the police reached the spot and found the truck but there was no driver or owner at the spot.

The police called a team from the Excise department and then broke four seals at the container’s door and found that the container was laden with the plastic and jute bags filled with rotten groundnuts. The police removed the bags and found liquor bottles hidden behind.

The police seized the truck and liquor boxes were recovered from the container.

Inspector Ankit Kumar, SHO, CIA-3, said the approximate cost of the liquor seized was Rs 30 lakh. “It is clear that the liquor was brought here to smuggle only as it was manufactured for sale in Chandigarh only,” he added. Raids were being conducted to nab the accused, he said.