UP: 389 bootleggers held, liquor worth 11.5 cr seized in 10 months
Police claimed most of them have confessed that they were going to deliver the liquor consignment for distribution during civic body polls.
Ghaziabad: The excise department in Ghaziabad has seized illicit liquor worth Rs 11.5 crore in a span of ten months besides impounding nearly 200 vehicles and arresting 389 bootleggers, officials said on Friday.
District excise officer Karunendra Singh said between April 1, 2016 and January 25, the department has seized 2.70 lakh litres of India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth at least Rs 11.5 crore, while 2,096 cases under excise act have been lodged.
Around 199 vehicles indulged in ferrying the illicit liquor have also been impounded, he said.
389 bootleggers were also arrested while smuggling the liquor from Haryana to western Uttar Pradesh, the official said, claiming most of them have "confessed" that they were going to deliver the liquor consignment for distribution during civic body elections which took place during this period.
Ahead of UP assembly polls, the election commission has implemented model code of conduct in the state. In compliance with that, the excise department is more vigilant and constantly raiding the jungles where the raw booze furnaces are being operated clandestinely, Singh added.