A liquor trader from Lucknow was reportedly threatened and assaulted after demanding payment of Rs 8.66 lakh from two liquor shops in Varanasi. The trader alleged that he was held captive and fired upon by individuals associated with Shubham Jaiswal, a kingpin linked to a smuggling syndicate involved in the illegal trade of codeine cough syrup. The incident highlights ongoing tensions within the liquor distribution sector in the region.
Payments were initially made regularly, but later dues of over Rs 8.66 lakh accumulated. Of this, over Rs 2.66 lakh was outstanding against Radhika’s shop and over Rs 6 lakh against Shivangi’s shop. Arvind told police that on March 25, Vaibhav called him near the water tank at Chaukaghat, where Shivangi and Radhika were also present.
Manduadih police station in charge Digambar Upadhyaya said that in his complaint, Arvind stated that his firm supplies liquor in Varanasi and Lucknow. Regular supplies of liquor were made to shops run by Shivangi and Radhika. Arvind alleged that when he demanded payment, Vaibhav began delaying it and threatened him by claiming links with Shubham. Vaibhav allegedly warned that Arvind would face consequences if he demanded the dues or stopped supplies. He was allegedly held captive and beaten there. The next day, when he tried to escape, Vaibhav allegedly fired at him with the intent to kill, but he survived. Vaibhav looked after the hawala trade of Shubham, who is still out of reach of police in the multi-crore codeine cough syrup smuggling case. Shubham and his jailed father, Bhola Prasad Jaiswal, were laundering black money earned from cough syrup through the liquor business as well. Bhola obtained English liquor shops in the names of women, including Vaibhav’s mother and wife, through the lottery system. Vaibhav used to transfer the income generated from these liquor shops to Shubham through hawala. investigators of Kotwali police station and the SIT also detected that through an association of persons, Shubham determined his share of the profits from six English liquor shops While investigating various bank statements and documents. Cops found that Shubham had also formed a syndicate in the liquor trade by incorporating persons from different trades.
DCP Varuna zone Pramod Kumar on Thursday said that on the complaint of Arvind Kumar Jaiswal, a resident of Lucknow’s Jankipuram and manager of a liquor firm, an FIR had been registered at Manduadih police station against Vaibhav, who has been lodged in district jail since April, his wife and his mother.