Pune: State Excise Nets 44,000 Bottles Of Spurious Foreign Liquor Valued At Rs 74.56 Lakh In Ravet
Sumit Singh
Pune, 2nd November 2023: In a significant operation, the Maharashtra State Excise department cracked down on the illegal transportation of spurious foreign-made liquor and truck valued at Rs 1.19 crores in Ravet on the Pune-Bangalore highway yesterday afternoon.
Two individuals, identified as Vijay Chandrakant Chavan (53) from Satara and Sachin Niwas Dhotre (31) from Sangli, were apprehended. Following their arrest, the accused were presented before the Vadgaon Maval court, which remanded them to police custody until Nov 4.
Acting on a tip-off regarding the illegal transportation of foreign-made liquor through Ravet village, a team of state excise officials, guided by Pune SP Charansingh Rajput, intercepted a BharatBenz Company truck with the registration number MH 15 FV 7940. Upon inspection, the officials discovered eighty sacks containing spurious foreign-made liquor bottles stored in airtight boxes. The raid resulted in the seizure of 44,000 liquor bottles, including Royal Blue Whisky, Ice Magic Orange Vodka, and Royal Blunt Malt Whisky, with an estimated value of Rs 74.56 lakh.
SP Rajput emphasized that more such actions would be taken to curb the influx of spurious foreign liquor into the open market, safeguarding government revenue. The Excise department revealed that the collective worth of the seized vehicle and liquor amounts to Rs 1.19 crores.
In a related update, from April 1, 2023, to Oct 23, 2023, the Excise department has recorded 267 cases of foreign-made liquor, resulting in the recovery of a fine totaling 38.92 lakh.
