Investigations showed that the factory which belonged to one Rakesh, supposedly from Bengaluru,was supplying spurious liquor to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka just to name a few states. This particular lot of liquor was to be dispatched to Haryana, according to the arrested workers.
The Andhra Police reached the state following a lead after investigations following the seizure of a container with 800 bottles on December 8 that was found to have come from Goa. When the container was seized, the driver was arrested and during interrogation he informed the police from where he had picked up the container.
Officials say that this was the second consignment to Haryana and the first one was of 600 cases sent in November.
“We were tipped off by the Andhra Pradesh superintendent of excise,” the Director of Excise Menino D’Souza told Herald, adding that the bottles were of different brands such as Royal Stag and Celebration rum.
The arrested driver was brought to Goa by the police team led by Police Inspector Sri Krishnan. The police along with the local excise, raided the bottling plant, and found and seized the spurious bottles. Labels of various liquors including Golconda wine that is manufactured for the army were found.
“We found some 2000 bottles of Royal Stag whisky. These bottles were supposed to have been sent to Haryana,” Sri Krishna told Herald. “We also found more than 10,000 litres of spirit. This too has been seized.”
Superintendent of Excise Nerulkar who led the local raiding team said that after the formalities, the arrested person would be handed over to the police and liquor transported to the excise godowns.
According to local officials, all the liquor was being ‘exported’ and this could be one of the reasons why it had escaped the scrutiny of local officials.
Goa has been the hub for such activities, and seizures in neighbouring Belgaum happen at regular intervals. Recently, excise officials from Belgaum seized Goa made liquor and two motorcycles worth Rs 1 lakh after a raid was carried out near the Karnataka excise check post near Kankumbi. The officials seized nine boxes containing 77.76 litres of whisky, two motorcycles, six litres of ‘Urrack’ and six bottles of whisky. Another two-wheeler has been also seized.
Prior to that the Belgaum Excise Department arrested two persons and seized illegal liquor worth Rs 6 lakh that was being transported from Goa to Belgaum in a lorry. The police found 24,000 bottles (180 ml each) packed in 500 boxes in the truck.
