Rourkela: At a time when the state government has launched a crackdown on illicit liquor trade across the state in the wake of hooch deaths in Ganjam, Rourkela Excise Department Thursday seized 115 litres of duplicate Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and arrested five persons in this regard. Besides, the Excise sleuths have seized one auto-rickshaw, one bike, one scooter and mobile phones of the persons involved in the illegal trade.
Excise sources said the contraband was being brought from Jharkhand. The department did not reveal the identity of the five accused in the case. Two of them are regular offenders and have cases against them in different police stations, sources said. The arrested individuals include the owner of a ‘dhaba’ and two auto-rickshaw drivers. They used to bring the illicit liquor from Jharkhand for sale in the roadside eateries or ‘dhabas’.
The total value of the seized contraband has been pegged at Rs 5 lakh. Further investigation is going on in this regard.
Speaking about the arrest and seizure, Excise official Archana Barik said, “We have launched an investigation into the matter. The arrests were made after we received a tip-off and came to know that the contraband was to be offloaded at Chhend.” Barik informed that the total seizure was 115 litre and five persons were arrested. “However, we are sure more people are involved in this,” Barik said. One Kalu from Rourkela is the mastermind of the entire operation and the search for him has been on for some time, she added. Duplicate Excise Licence and faulty barcodes that could not be scanned properly led to the conclusion that the liquor consignment was a duplicate.