Highway vigil helps J’khand police seize liquor destined for Bihar

DHANBAD: Police in Jharkhand have seized 40 cartons of branded liquor being supplied to Bihar from Bengal on the eve of New Year and arrested two persons in this connection.

Nirsa sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Vijay Kumar Kuswaha said that a police team was deployed at Maithon toll plaza, following a tip-off that a huge consignment of branded liquor was being illegally supplied to Bihar from West Bengal through National Highway 2.

The team under Maithon police station officer in-charge Dasharath Yadav intercepted a pickup van loaded with fodder sacks at around 10.15 pm on Saturday. When the police checked, they found 40 cartons of liquor hidden in the fodder sacks.

Two persons — van driver Arvind Kumar Chaudhary and Mohan Prasad Pandit, both residents of Purulia district in West Bengal — were arrested.

The smuggler duo revealed that they had to deliver the consignment in different districts of Bihar just in time for New Year’s celebrations.

Liquor is banned in Bihar, but smugglers bring in alcohol from Bengal, Jharkhand, and other states on the eve of different occasions.

Excise inspector Mahendra Dev Singh, who reached the spot after getting information of the seizure and arrests, told mediapersons that the liquor was of a popular brand and its market price was about ₹2.4 lakh.

The authorities in Jharkhand have positioned special police teams on National Highway 2 and the interstate Grand Trunk Road to monitor illegal transporting of liquor New Year’s Eve.