Rs 25L liquor labelled 'for sale in Punjab' seized on way to J'khand

Ravinder Saini

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Jhajjar, February 15

Besides Gujarat and Bihar, illicit liquor is allegedly being smuggled to Jharkhand on fake permits from the border area of Haryana and Punjab. This came to the fore when the local police seized a total of 485 boxes of illicit liquor “meant for sale in Punjab” near Girawar village on the Jhajjar-Sampla road on Wednesday.

The consignment, worth Rs 25 lakh in the market, was being transported on a truck under the cover of Covid testing kits.

Under cover of Covid kits

• Liquor were being transported on truck under the cover of Covid-testing kits and 85 boxes of the kits were also seized
• As the stamp of Punjab has been put on the liquor boxes, the possibility of origin of the consignment from Punjab could not be ruled out, said Waseem Akram, SP

“Preliminary investigation into the case has revealed that illicit liquor, having the label of a popular brand, was loaded on a truck in the Dabwali area of Sirsa district. It was being taken to Ranchi (Jharkhand). The truck driver, identified as Ajit of Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), was offered Rs 10,000 to transport the consignment to the destination. The names of two other persons, belonging to Nuh, have also surfaced during the investigation,” said Waseem Akram, Superintendent of Police (SP).

The SP maintained that someone had contacted Ajit on WhatsApp for the purpose. Later, Ajit was given an empty truck in Nuh to go to Sirsa. On reaching a dhaba there, someone took the truck away and returned after loading the liquor in it.

Then, Ajit was asked to transport the consignment to Ranchi. The truck was on way to Jhajjar when a CIA team — acting on a tip-off — intercepted it near Girawar village and seized the consignment, Waseem Akram added.

“As the stamp of Punjab has been put on the liquor boxes, the possibility of origin of the consignment from Punjab cannot be ruled out. The driver has been taken on five-day remand to find out about other persons involved,” said the SP, adding that 85 boxes of Covid testing kits had also been seized from the truck.

About 10 days ago, Mahendragarh district police had confiscated 870 boxes of illicit liquor having the stamp “For sale in UT Chandigarh only” on bottles. This consignment was being transported to Gujarat from Tricity (Chandigarh).