Patna, Oct. 22: Excise officials today confiscated 10,500 litres of liquor of various brands from the Fatuha Industrial area in Patna district and arrested six persons.
The consignment was packed in 1,100 cartons, and was seized while it was being offloaded from a container truck to a godown today morning.
This is the largest-ever seizure of foreign liquor by prohibition enforcement agencies, including excise and police since April 5, in Bihar.
The maximum retail price (MRP) of the seized liquor is around Rs 2 crore, but is worth several times more in a dry state like Bihar.
"Our team raided the spot after a tip-off. It is the largest-ever seizure of foreign liquor in Bihar after prohibition was enforced in the state on April 5. Godown owner and kingpin Anil Kumar Gupta was arrested from the spot with five of his associates," said Krishna Kumar, the excise assistant commissioner of Patna.
While the container truck bears a Haryana registration number, the seized liquor of brands like Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, and Officer's Choice have been manufactured in Haryana, once again pointing to the Haryana connection in smuggling of liquor to Bihar.
The raiding team was led by excise inspector Amitesh Kumar and consisted of excise sub-inspectors Ajit Kumar and Durgesh Kumar, assistant sub-inspector Shad Karim and a section of excise constables and homeguards.
Amitesh said intelligence inputs were being received over the past few days that huge consignments of foreign liquor were being brought to Fatuha from Haryana, and was being bootlegged across Patna and adjoining districts.
"We were keeping a tab on movements in the area and our informer tipped us off about the arrival of a liquor-laden container truck. We accordingly planned out operation and conducted it swiftly while the culprits were transferring cartons to the godown," Amitesh added.
The cartons were hidden behind a wall of several sacks of foodgrains placed at the door of the container and escaped detection in its 1,200km journey from Haryana to Patna.
Excise officials, on earlier occasions, had been vocal about their apprehensions of liquor smuggling turning into organised crime with mafia groups replete with huge money and muscle power entering into it as big players to compromise prohibition, the cherished project of chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Enforcement agencies, especially those working against contraband items and narcotics, contend they are able to seize only up to 10 per cent of smuggled items under normal circumstances.
On the development of such a scenario in the light of today's seizure, excise commissioner Aditya Kumar Das said: "The matter is under investigation and I won't be able to divulge anything. We are sending a team to Haryana for the purpose."
A senior excise official told The Telegraph that today's seizure has all the trappings of a well-organised, well-oiled gang involved in liquor smuggling.
"Such huge investment involving several crores and fraught with risk of getting caught, location of godown in a desolate place, the ease with which the vehicle reached Fathua, located just a few kilometres from the state capital point to the involvement of organised crime," he said.
