Maharashtra: Alcohol worth Rs 21 lakh, meant for poll-bound Gujarat, seized

The excise officers with the seized consignment on Tuesday

The excise officers said they raided a bungalow in Palghar on Tuesday and seized beer and foreign liquor worth Rs 21 lakh that was meant to be delivered in Gujarat, which is voting for the Assembly elections early next month.

With the help of the local police, the Palghar unit of the Maharashtra State Excise department raided the bungalow at Wadavali village, just 20 km from the Gujarat border, following a tip-off about smuggling of illegal liquor. They recovered more than 2,000 bottles of beer and foreign liquor, but the accused managed to flee.

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"The information was that the liquor will be supplied to Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections. During the raid, we found the bottles inside a mini truck parked at the bungalow. The accused was tipped off about our arrival and he managed to escape," said Palghar Excise Inspector SS Amberkar. The liquor had stamps of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the officers found. "The bottles were supplied to Wadavali village of Palghar from where the consignment was supposed to be delivered in Gujarat," Amberkar added.

The excise officers later learnt that the mini truck belongs to one Umesh Hadad, who fled from the bungalow before the raid. They have named him as an absconding accused in the matter. The excise officers are also probing whether the seized beer and foreign liquor were made illegally and packaged in bottles of foreign brands, like in the previous cases in Palghar.