Illegal liquor traders under Excise scanner in Odisha’s Balasore, three arrested

Bhogarai: Separate teams of Excise sleuths carried out simultaneous raids at two different godowns associated with an illegal liquor trader under Bhogarai block and Baunsadiha locality in Balasore district. A huge cache of illegal liquor has been seized following the search operation, today.

Police have arrested three persons in this connection and launched a detailed probe.

According to a source, bootleggers have become active since the announcement of General Elections 2024. Illegal liquors are being smuggled from neighbouring West Bengal. Hence, massive raids are being conducted to curb the illegal trading. Fifteen-member team including police personnel from Jaleswar and Bhogarai led by the Additional Superintendent of the Excise department took part in the raid.

“We have seized three scooters and a huge quantity of country-made and foreign liquors following raids. The valuation of the seized liquors would be more than lakhs of rupees in the open market. The arrested persons will be interrogated to gather more information,” Excise officer Ch Tirupati said.