118 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor seized from unemployed Belapur man

BELAPUR: The crime branch of Navi Mumbai Police arrested a 34-year-old man from Belapur village on Tuesday evening and seized 118 bottles of liquor worth Rs 37,000 from him. The man had been selling the liquor illegally during the lockdown.

Acting on a tip-off, the central crime branch team raided his house in sector 20, Belapur village, on Tuesday evening. During the raid, the official found 118 bottles Indian-made foreign liquor in his possession. The man has been identified as Vishnu Motiram Mhatre and he was unemployed.

“The total worth of the liquor recovered from him is Rs 37,095,” said N B Kolhatkar, senior police inspector from the Central Crime Branch. Mhatre had been selling the liquor at a premium to certain people. “He used to sell it to the group at a high cost,” said the officer.

Since there is prohibition on the sale of liquor in Navi Mumbai due to the lockdown, police are keeping tabs on such activities. Earlier too, police had also busted a country liquor manufacturing racket and seized liquor from seven bars in the city.

A case has registered against Mhatre at NRI Police station under sections 188, 270, 271 of IPC and 65 (E) of the Liquor Prohibition Act, including section 51 B of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. Investigation is underway into how he managed to obtain the liquor during the lockdown and who his customers were.