Dry Day Crackdown: 21 Arrested By Excise Dept For Illegal Liquor Sale in Pune on Sept 14
Pune, 16th September 2026: The state excise department registered 23 cases and arrested 21 people for allegedly selling liquor illegally during the dry day declared until 4pm on September 14 ahead of Ganeshotsav.
The action was carried out across Pune city and district as part of a special crackdown to prevent illegal sale and storage of liquor and maintain law and order during the festival. Teams kept watch on suspected bootleggers and conducted checks at various locations, seizing liquor stocks.
The seized material included 56.5 litres of country liquor, 68.04 bulk litres of country liquor, 9.36 bulk litres of foreign liquor, 13 bulk litres of toddy and 19.5 bulk litres of beer. Two two-wheelers, valued at around Rs 1.6 lakh, were also seized. The total value of the seized material was Rs 2.32 lakh.
In Pimpri Chinchwad, the excise department registered six cases and arrested six people for allegedly selling country-made and foreign liquor illegally during the dry day. Liquor worth Rs 18,120 was seized in the action.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Pune excise superintendent Ravikiran Kole. Pune excise superintendent Atul Kanade said surveillance of those involved in the illegal sale of liquor would continue during the Ganesh festival.
