Constable, home guard at Hyd airport among 4 held for selling duty-free liquor against norms
Hyderabad: A police constable and a home guard posted at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) police station in Shamshabad along with software engineer and another person were arrested by the Prohibition and Excise department for possessing duty-free liquor for allegedly selling to persons known to them during New Year celebrations.
The arrested have been identified as M. Gemya Naik (37), of Shamshabad, Girdhara Harish Kumar (24), of Madhapur, P Raghavendra Rao (36), of Banjara Hills and B Lingaiah (36) of Rajendranagar, while one more person Maheswar was absconding. Naik and Lingaiah were working as a constable and home guard, respectively, at RGIA police station, attending to protocol duties at the airport.
Reddy is working as a software engineer, while Rao is a manager of a hotel in Gachibowli. As many as 41 duty-free foreign liquor bottles, three cars and four mobile phones, all worth over Rs.15 lakh were seized from the possession of the arrested persons. The accused were arrested near the ORR exit at Shamshabad. The Prohibition and Excise Enforcement Director, VB Kamalasan Reddy appreciated the staff for arresting the accused.
Officials said Naik and Lingaiah used to approach air passengers known to them after landing at the RGIA and request for their boarding passes to purchase duty-free liquor from the shops at the airport. Maheswar was an employee at the billing counter at the duty-free shop at the airport. With the help of Maheswar, the two police personnel used to buy duty-free liquor after collecting passengers boarding passes as it is mandatory to submit for buying liquor.
After purchasing bottles, the two police personnel with the help of others sell them at exorbitant charges. To cash in on the demand for New Year celebrations, they procured more bottles to sell them to buyers, officials said.