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Liquor cartons recovered during the raid at Dhatkidih on Tuesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad
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Police, acting on a tip-off on Tuesday morning, raided Dhatkidih Medical Colony under Bistupur thana area and seized liquor worth over Rs 1 lakh, gambling materials and an SUV.
Liquor mafia don Munna Ghosh, who owns the place, escaped arrest.
Allegedly a veteran in running a gambling hub and a number of unauthorised liquor dens since a long time, Ghosh had stopped his business in 2006 after his brother Buchhu’s murder, but resumed business recently.
Seized items include 25 cartons of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), two of beer, gambling coupons for an online lottery and Ghosh’s SUV.
Deputy superintendent of police (police control room) Rajkishore Prasad said the hour-long raid from 11am was conducted after senior superintendent of police (SSP) Akhilesh Kumar Jha issued instructions.
Prasad, also the district police spokesperson, said Jha received a tip-off that Ghosh was running the gambling hub and unauthorised liquor dens at Dhatkidih Medical Colony.
The SSP set up a special taskforce and assigned additional SP Chandan Jha to conduct a raid.
Initially, the police raided a number of places owned by Ghosh, but could not detect anything suspicious.
Later, the taskforce raided a compound with a locked garage.
“Police broke open the lock and found the stock of liquor and heaps of gambling coupons. Some liquor bottles were also recovered from the SUV,” said the spokesperson.
A raid close to the garage yielded more items related to gambling.
Ghosh, who had earned notoriety for running an illicit business of country-made liquor, had wrapped up his activities when his younger brother Bucchu Ghosh was murdered at Ramnagar, Kadma in 2006.
Recently, when he resumed his business, he chose to sell IMFL instead of hooch.
According to police, samples of the seized liquor would be sent to a Ranchi-based laboratory for examination.
“We will ascertain if the illegal liquor sold by Ghosh was fit for human consumption. We will also continue the raids and nab Munna Ghosh soon,” added the DSP.
According to sources, a police team led by Bistupur officer-in-charge A.K. Yadav arrested six persons at the same medical colony for allegedly indulging in gambling late on Monday night and recovered Rs 13,000 in cash from them.
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