Maharashtra Excise department busts multi-state liquor racket - INDIA

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Maharashtra Excise department busts multi-state liquor racket

Written by Sandeep Ashar | Mumbai | Published:August 20, 2016 3:01 am

They used a gas tanker to evade detection and put off officials from inspecting it in depth due to the inflammable nature of liquid ammonia.

The Maharashtra Excise Department has stumbled upon a multi-state liquor smuggling racket where a gas tanker was being used to smuggle out spirit from Maharashtra. Acting on a tip-off, officials of the state excise flying squad caught the tanker on the Hyderabad -Pune Highway. Instead of liquid ammonia it was supposed to carry, the vehicle was found to contain 20,000 litres of spirit.

Sunil Chavan, Director, Enforcement and Vigilance, Maharashtra Excise, said, “The spirit was intended for manufacture of illicit India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). The spirit was filled up from a distillery in Solapur and was Goa-bound.”

The use of gas tanker was to evade detection and put off officials from inspecting it in depth due to the inflammable nature of liquid ammonia, Chavan said. Such tankers are modified internally to store spirit. While the total stash recovered during the raid on August 16 was Rs 25.06 lakh, Chavan said loss of revenue was deeper. The 20,000 litres of spirit, when mixed with water and essence, can make 35,000 litres of liquor. While two people have so far been arrested in the case, officials suspect the racket was massive and involved many more people. “Further investigations in this regard are on,” Chavan said.

In another breakthrough, another flying squad intercepted a container late evening on August 18, carrying 1900 cartons of duty-evaded IFML. The container, which was smuggling the liquor from Goa and was Rajasthan-bound, was seized near Panvel along the Mumbai-Goa National Highway. Royal Blue, a malt whiskey brand, was being smuggled, officials said. One person has so far been arrested. The excise officials estimated the evasion in this case to Rs 1.05 crore. While entering the state from Goa, the smugglers declared the container’s goods as being toothpaste. A team led by inspector Sunil Kanse and comprising constables Sandeep Patil, Pramila Patil,and a jawan Ganesh Zite conducted the raid. The excise enforcement division is of the opinion there was a common thread to the two raids.

While Maharashtra has adopted a policy of discouraging liquor consumption through high pricing, neighbouring states and union territories like Goa have liberal regimes, which fuels smuggling. Maharashtra is also seen as a transit point for smuggling liquor into dry states.