ID liquor packaged at City ‘water bottling unit’; 4 held

Bhubaneswar: In a major crackdown, the Bhubaneswar Excise Department sleuths raided an illegal country liquor (ID liquor) storage and distribution unit operating clandestinely under the guise of a water bottling and packaging factory in the forest area of Mund jungle near Daruthenga village on the outskirts of the Capital City, Friday.

Deputy Superintendent Raj Sekhar Swain, who led the raiding team, said four persons were arrested and 9,510 litres of ID liquor, estimated to be of Rs 19 lakh, were seized from the illegal unit. The sleuths also recovered around 28,000 plastic bottles, 7,000 empty pouches, one sealing machine, along with three four-wheelers, and a two-wheeler used for transporting the contraband, Swain said. He identified the arrested accused as Sukanta Sahoo, Bharat Sahoo, Pankaj Mansingh, and Sunil Kumar Swain.

However, the fifth accused in the case managed to escape as he ran away minutes before the raid. Giving details, the Deputy Superintendent said the raid was conducted early in the morning following receipt of confidential information that illegal country liquor production was carried out inside the water bottling and packing factory. He said the miscreants ran the illicit facility in the isolated place in a bid to escape surveillance.

During interrogation, the arrested accused allegedly disclosed that they sourced the liquor from Athagarh area, and later stored them in plastic bottles for distribution. Efforts are underway to arrest the main supplier from Athagarh in connection with the case, he added. Swain said the four men were booked under Section 52 (b) of Excise Act, and produced before a local court Friday for remand.

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