Nagpur: The Nagpur Crime Branch seized 39,000 bottles of fake country liquor worth ₹15.60 lakh from a truck in the Wadi area early Sunday, allegedly foiling a liquor smuggling operation from Dhule to Gadchiroli.
The total value of the seized liquor, truck and other material has been estimated at ₹28.70 lakh. The action was carried out by the Crime Branch’s Vehicle Theft Squad after receiving information about the illegal consignment.
According to police, truck MH-40/CD-1591 was travelling towards Nagpur from Amravati when police received a tip-off that it was carrying a large quantity of liquor. Acting on the information, a Crime Branch team set up a checkpoint on the Nagpur-Amravati road in the Wadi police station area.
At around 2:30 am, the truck was intercepted. Plastic scrap was reportedly visible on the upper portion of the vehicle. However, during a detailed inspection, police allegedly found a large number of liquor boxes concealed inside.
The truck was carrying 390 boxes of Rocket country liquor manufactured by Pravara Distillery. Each box contained 100 bottles of 90 ml, bringing the total to 39,000 bottles.
During questioning, the truck driver, Abdul Tahsil Abdul Office (34), a resident of Gawlipura in Gittikhadan, allegedly told police that the consignment had been arranged by Anna alias Ankush Sudhakar Kunchanwar, an alleged liquor smuggler from Hinganghat in Wardha district.
Police said the liquor had allegedly been brought from Dhule and was being transported through Nagpur to Allapalli in Gadchiroli district.
Police arrested the driver in connection with the seizure. According to police, he has previously been booked in several cases related to liquor smuggling.
Meanwhile, Ankush Kunchanwar is absconding, and police teams are searching for him.
The operation was conducted by the Crime Branch’s Vehicle Theft Squad under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre-Patil, Joint Commissioner Navinchandra Reddy, Additional Commissioner Rajendra Dabhade, DCP Crime Deepak Agrawal and ACP Vaibhav Jadhav.
