Baripada: Acting on a tip-off, Excise personnel Sunday seized Mahua flowers worth over Rs 6 lakh after intercepting a pick-up van at Dhabanishola under Chandua police limits in Mayurbhanj district and arrested two persons in this connection. The accused were identified as Prasanjeet Das, 35, of Bhuskunda village under Suliapada police limits in Mayurbhanj district, and Samay Soren, 52, of Putulia area under Gopiballavpur police limits in neighbouring West Bengal.
Another person involved in the smuggling fled the scene during the raid. Excise sources said that the illegal country liquor trade is on the rise in Mayurbhanj district and miscreants are smuggling Mahua flowers, which are used as raw material for liquor production, from Jharkhand to the district. District Excise Superintendent Prasant Kumar Kanhar directed inspector Sridhar Mohanty of Excise Mobile Unit-1 to conduct a raid after intelligence inputs. Accordingly, the team waited at Dhabanishola and intercepted a pick-up van for verification as it passed by the route. During verification, the team members seized 20.80 quintal of Mahua flowers packed in 52 sacks. The consignment was being smuggled from Jharkhand to Deuli area in Mayurbhanj. Further investigations are on to nab the rest of the accused persons involved in the smuggling, Mohanty said.