Adulterated liquor-making unit seized in Dharmavaram

Anantapur: In a major breakthrough, SEB (Special Enforcement Branch) and Dharmavaram police in a joint operation busted a four-member gang along with an adulterated liquor manufacturing unit at a godown in Dharmavaram town in the district on Monday.

An engineering graduate was the leader of the gang. Police also seized a sealing machine, labels of APBCL brands, liquor bottles, spirit and other material from the spot.

SP Satya Esubabu told media that Badvel Jilan Bhasha of Harihara Nagar in Anantapur, on completion of his engineering graduation from a private college in Gooty in 2011 joined a call centre but left it two years later. He started a slipper manufacturing unit and subsequently forayed into cosmetic business. However, he was not satisfied with the income generated by the firms. While supplying cosmetics to shops, Bhasha had a friendship with a Gujarat-based Babulal who gave the idea of making adulterated liquor.  Bhasha procured a sealing machine from UP, spirit from Bellary and other material from Bengaluru. He took the help of a printer from Anantapur, Noushad Vali, to create sticker proofs of popular liquor brands like Officer’s Choice, Southern Blu, Green Choice and Hyderabad Blue besides having stickers printed at Sainath Printers in Hyderabad.

The engineering graduate hired a private godown on the outskirts of Dharmavaram town and started preparation of adulterated liquor on May 15. He supplied each bottle at Rs 110 to Venkatramudu, Subbamma, U. Chandra, Harshavardhan Reddy, Madhu, among others, for further sale in the market. The brands were being sold for Rs 140-Rs 180 by the gang.

Working on a tip-off, Inspectors Nagendra Prasad and Karunakar, and their teams nabbed Bhasha in Dharmavaram town and later arrested Vali, and Madhu and Chandra, who sold the adulterated liquor. Police seized 791 bottles of various brands, a sealing machine, labels, a computer, car and other material from godown.

The SP said that special teams are on the hunt for the Hyderabad-based printer Venka Reddy, Prabhakar from Bellary for supplying spirit and three others– Venkatramudu, Harshavardhan Reddy and Subbamma —who all sold the stuff in the market.