Rs3.5 lakh worth fake caps, seals of branded liquor seized

State excise department officers in Satara claimed to have stumbled upon a spurious liquor racket suspected to have operations in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Rajasthan after they raided a Karad-based unit manufacturing fake seals and caps for bottles of duplicate Indian-made foreign liquor. Officials also stated that the racket used hawala to make payments to people involved in its operations.

According to the officers, country liquor was being sold under the names of various popular Indian-made foreign liquor brands through the racket in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and other places. The spurious liquor was being procured from Goa and Karnataka and bottled in duplicate bottles for selling at various places in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Inspector Vijay Tikole of the state excise department with his team raided Balaji Plastic Industries at Tasawade Industrial Estate on a tip-off that duplicate caps and seals of bottles of popular liquor brands were being manufactured there. The team seized 76 bags of fake caps and seals and machinery used estimated to be worth over Rs3.5 lakh.

The state excise department officials said the unit was started in partnership by Ramesh Naik and Sandip Jadhav about six months ago. Naik is a resident of Laxminagar area of Thane, while Jadhav is a resident of Umbraj in Satara district. They procured used seals and caps through scrap dealers of Maharashtra and Goa, which would then be transported to Karad, where they would be repaired and repainted. Naik would then take the repaired and repainted seals and caps to Mumbai. Later, the spurious liquor would be sent to Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Officers said Naik would pay 15 paisa per repaired and repainted cap to Jadhav, and gang members in Jaipur would send the money to Naik through hawala transactions.

Earlier this year, the department had seized spurious liquor at Dhamni and Yerawalwadi villages.