Officials of the excise department seized 277 cartons of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 65 lakh in Muzaffarpur, around 80km north of Patna, on Thursday evening in a crackdown against bootlegging.

After a tip-off, a team from the excise department intercepted a truck on the national highway near Pipri Chowk under the jurisdiction of Sakra police station and seized the liquor. The consignment was brought to Muzaffarpur from Haryana.

A senior excise department official said the raiding team found a challan (booking receipt) from the truck, which suggested that the consignment was booked for the Indian Army to dodge sleuths at check posts in the borders of the states.

Muzaffarpur special excise superintendent of police Kumar Amit said the seized consignment had been brought to the Chhata Chowk office of the department and documents were being verified. "Sakra has emerged as an epicentre of bootlegging in the district," he added.

In another operation in Rohtas, the police seized over 30,000 pouches of Jharkhand-made country liquor when they were being transported from the neighbouring state to Rohtas in a truck.

The pouches of liquor were hidden under the bags of potato in the truck.

In another raid, the personnel of the Sashastra Seema Bal had seized a consignment of liquor from the India-Nepal border under the jurisdiction of Mainatand police station in West Champaran on Thursday. The consignment was being smuggled from Nepal.

Sources in the excise department said instructions had been issued to the officials of the excise department and the police to intensify operations against liquor smuggling from outside the state.