Varanasi: Chandauli Police on Wednesday arrested two interstate liquor smugglers and seized a truck carrying 1,200 cartons of illegal Indian-made foreign liquor during a joint operation by Balua Police and the SWAT/Surveillance team.
The arrested accused were identified as Latash (34), resident of Himachal Pradesh, and Virendra (35), resident of Punjab. A total of 1,200 cartons of whisky, amounting to 11,408.76 litres, was recovered. The accused admitted during questioning that they had taken the liquor-loaded truck from an unknown person near Chandigarh, Punjab, for a payment of Rs 1 lakh, according to police. A case was registered at Balua Police Station under sections 60/63 of the Excise Act.
Acting on a tip-off, police conducted intensive vehicle checking near the Balua bridge across Ganga on the route from Varanasi towards Bihar, according to reports. During the check, a suspicious truck with a Haryana registration number coming from the Chandauli side was stopped. As the truck was intercepted, the driver and another accused tried to flee but were caught on the spot after police surrounded them. During a thorough search of the truck, police found illegal liquor hidden under plastic sacks filled with sawdust. The liquor was being transported to Bihar for sale at a higher price. The arrest and recovery were carried out by a police team led by inspector Santosh Kumar Singh, Balua Police Station, along with SWAT Team in charge inspector Ram Janm Yadav and Surveillance Cell in-charge SI Ashish Mishra.