Cops bust liquor smuggling ops

Panaji: The crime branch of Goa police on Tuesday busted an alleged inter-state liquor smuggling racket and arrested four persons in connection with it. The crime branch also seized items worth Rs 1.5 crore.The crime branch received information that an inter-state liquor smuggling racket was being operated from Ponda. “The crime branch seized 148 boxes of spurious/adulterated liquor that had malt whiskey written on it, and each bottle had a label of ‘Royal Blue malt whiskey’. There were 5,920 bottles in total containing 180ml each. They also seized 510 boxes of bottles with the label ‘Evergreen Reserve whiskey’. There were 6,120 bottles in total, containing 750ml each.

A total of 29 vehicle registration number plates were also found,” Gupta said, adding that the number plates were registered in different states.Police said that the arrested people are workers, and they are trying to reach out to the main person behind the racket. “We have arrested Govind Rajput, 24, Mukesh Adiwasi, 50, Prakash Meena, 28, residents of Rajasthan, and Mahendra Rajput, 28, a resident of Gujarat,” Gupta said.