UP Police seizes liquor worth Rs 60 lakh being smuggled from Haryana to Bihar

Mau, Uttar Pradesh: A truck loaded with liquor worth Rs 60 lakh that was being smuggled from Haryana to Bihar was impounded on Tuesday, police said.

Based on a tip-off, a police team intercepted the truck and seized a large quantity of McDowell's and Imperial Blue liquor, they said.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Ilamaran G said that during a routine patrol, information was received that a truck transporting liquor from Haryana was en route to Bihar via Gorakhpur.

Acting on the tip-off, Kotwal Anil Kumar Singh and his team set up a checkpoint near Matlupur on the national highway, he said.

"A truck was spotted approaching from the Ghazipur side but as soon as the driver saw the police, he attempted to flee. However, our team chased and caught him," the officer added.

Upon inspection, the truck was found to contain 210 cartons of McDowell's (750 ml bottles), with 12 bottles per carton and 564 cartons of Imperial Blue (180 ml bottles), with 48 bottles per carton, police said.

In total, 6,672 litres of liquor was seized, which had been concealed under sacks of peanuts to evade detection, they said.

The arrested truck driver, Manoj, a resident of Haryana's Panipat confessed to working for a smuggler named Baba alias Kamal and truck owner Muhammad Hanif, from Pakariya Nauganwa in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit. He admitted to having transported liquor to Bihar multiple times, the SP said.

Police said they have initiated further legal proceedings and are investigating the larger smuggling network behind the operation.