The total value of the seizure is over Rs 3.89 lakh. The driver Amitabh Shardul has been arrested for bringing in liquor from outside Maharashtra for sale sans necessary permissions.
In a crackdown before the elections to civic and municipal bodies in Maharashtra, state excise officials have seized smuggled and illicit liquor in Nashik and Solapur.
In Nashik, a state excise team intercepted an ambulance which was being used to ferry liquor from Dadra and Nagar Haveli while in Solapur, cheap quality liquor smuggled in from Madhya Pradesh was being used to duplicate local brands, which could be sold at a higher rate.
State excise commissioner V Radha confirmed the seizures. Prasad Surve, divisional deputy commissioner, Nashik, state excise, said that at 6:30 AM on Friday, officials of the department, who were manning a check post stopped an ambulance on the Mumbai- Agra highway.
“Their suspicions were heightened as the ambulance had a blazing light on top but there were no passengers in it apart from the driver,” he said, adding that a search of the vehicle yielded 26 boxes of brands like Imperial Blue whisky (960 bottles of 180 ml each) and Blenders Pride whisky (72 bottles of 750 ml each).
The total value of the seizure is over Rs 3.89 lakh. The driver Amitabh Shardul has been arrested for bringing in liquor from outside Maharashtra for sale sans necessary permissions.
Incidentally, the ambulance being used to transport the liquor carried photographs of leaders across the political spectrum.
At Solapur, the state excise officials unearthed a stash of duplicate Indian Made Foreign Liqour (IMFL) worth Rs 11 lakh on Thursday. The illegal bottling plant was operating in a house at Damani Nagar in Solapur city where cheaply priced liquor from Madhya Pradesh was being bottled for sale.
Two people have been arrested in the case and 45 boxes of liquor were seized along with equipment like empty bottles, a sealing and packing machine and caps.
“In Madhya Pradesh, the liquor comes cheap. It was being re-bottled in empty bottles for sale here at a higher price,” said Sagar Dhomkar, superintendent, state excise, Solapur.
He admitted that the liquor could have been meant for use during the election season at parties held at dhabas and outdoor locations and said they suspected that liquor was also being brought in for the purpose from Goa and Madhya Pradesh.
Dhomkar added that they were trying to get details about the source of the liquor and its distribution in the investigations.
The department has lodged 202 cases and made 157 arrests in Solapur ever since the code of conduct for the polls came into force and seized 8,700 liters of IMFL, country liquor, hooch, toddy and beer worth Rs 49.25 lakh.
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