Illegal liquor worth Rs 50 lakh seized; gang busted, one held

Allahabad: Special Task Force (Allahabad unit) on Thursday claimed to have busted an interstate racket involved in smuggling

liquor

and arrested its key operative near Lalgpalganj while he was waiting to deliver the consignment.

The arrested man was identified as Jaswant Singh, resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

As many as 974 cartons of illegal liquor (46,792 bottles) worth Rs 50 lakh , a truck, one mobile phone, a driving license and Rs 586 cash were seized.

“The liquor bottles did not have holograms on them,” said police.

Additional SP (STF) Neeraj Kumar Pandey told TOI that the illegal liquor consignment was brought from Madhya Pradesh and was to be delivered in eastern UP districts.

“A joint team of STF and Nawabaganj police, on a tip-off about the delivery of illegal liquor near Nindura railway crossing, cordoned the area and seized the truck carrying the consignment,” added Pandey.

“Jaswant revealed that a man from Kheri village in Indore Kheri, Sudhakar Tripathi, had asked him to deliver the consignment near Lalgopalganj where other members of the racket would reach and drive the truck to another destination,” Pandey said.

“A case under section 60\72 of Excise Act has been registered in the same regard,” said police.