The seizure of liquor bottles was made at Panvel station on Sunday by the bomb detection and disposal squad personnel .
The Government Railway police (GRP), while searching for explosives on board the Deharadun Express, stumbled on bottles of liquor hidden inside a toilet.
The seizure of whisky and vodka bottles was made at Panvel on Sunday after the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad personnel were called in and sniffer dogs pressed into action.
According to the GRP, some passengers in the train informed ticket examiner Ajit Jadhav that two men carrying cotton bags with goods boarded the general compartment of Kochuveli-Dehradun Express (2287 UP) at Madgaon in the wee hours of Sunday. They went into the toilet with the bags. After about 15 minutes, the duo came out with empty bags and alighted from the train.
Jadhav immediately contacted the Konkan Railway control room. Senior police inspector AR Jagtap of Panvel railway police station said that the GRP and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were kept on alert at Panvel station.
“With the help of sniffer dogs and BDDS personnel, we cordoned off the general compartment when the train arrived at Panvel at 11.04 am. After thoroughly checking the toilets, 30 bottles of vodka, 40 bottles of Green Label whisky and 454 pouches (90 ml each) of whisky and brandy were found concealed in the space between the plywood and the inner body of the train,” said Jagtap.
According to Jagtap, the search team was about to give up seeing an empty toilet. However, when the loose plywood was noticed, they grew suspicious and unscrewed it.
The cost of the seized liqour consignment is estimated at Rs 24,000. The police will destroy the bottles after obtaining permission from the Kalyan railway court, said the police officer.
The police suspect that some gang was involved in smuggling of liqour to Mumbai and other parts of the country from Goa. Liquor is cheaper in Goa than many other parts of the country.
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