Three hundred bottles of liquor brands found in the tempo were banned for sale in Maharashtra and meant exclusively for Daman and Diu, an official said
Representational Pic/File
The excise department on Tuesday seized Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth more than Rs 19 lakh in Palghar district of Maharashtra, officials said, reported the PTI.
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The officials said that a tempo carrying these liquor bottles from neighbouring Gujarat illegally was intercepted near Dundalwadi village in Dahanu taluka on the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway in the afternoon.
"A flying squad had laid a trap to intercept the tempo carrying the liquor bottles. As the team closed in, the miscreants abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene, leaving behind the illicit consignment. Upon inspection, the officers found that the IMFL was concealed beneath the stacks of cardboard," Sudhakar Kadam, superintendent of state excise in Palghar, said, according to the PTI.
"Three hundred bottles of liquor brands found in the tempo were banned for sale in Maharashtra and meant exclusively for Daman and Diu," he said, as per the PTI.
The IMFL worth Rs 19.53 lakh along with the tempo of Rs 12 lakh were seized, he said.
The authorities confirmed that the consignment was intended for illegal distribution in Maharashtra, and they were trying to find out the source of the contraband.
"The Maharashtra government has stringent laws against the smuggling and sale of unauthorised liquor, particularly from neighbouring states where taxation policies differ. The department has ramped up surveillance and crackdowns to curb such illegal activities," the official said, the news agency reported on Tuesday.
No arrest has been made in this connection, he said.
Meanwhile, in an another similar incident, last year in June, the Palghar district rural police in Maharashtra had seized IMFL worth Rs 10.10 lakh from a tempo, an official had then said.
Based on a tip-off, the police intercepted a tempo at Udhva in Talasari taluka, inspector Vijay Mutadak of the Talasari police station had said, according to the PTI.
Following a search, the police team recovered the IMFL and beer worth Rs 10.10 lakh from the vehicle, the official had said.
A case under the Maharashtra Prohibition Act was registered against the tempo driver, and no one has been arrested, the official said.
(with PTI inputs)
