BAREILLY: Police claimed to have seized 234 cartons of spurious country-made liquor during a raid at an illicit liquor factory being run by a government liquor shop contractor in Tilhar area of Shahjahanpur district.
The seized spurious liquor was bottled with labels of various brands on them and was supposed to be sold at a government-licensed shop, said police.
The spurious liquor was transported to Tilhar in a Bolero pick-up vehicle bearing Aligarh registration.
Police said that they also seized fake labels of various liquor brands, bottles and chemicals from the godown that belonged to Anuj Gupta, while the vehicle belonged to his elder brother Amit.
An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the Excise Act against Amit, Anuj, Rekha Gupta and three unidentified persons, said police.
Police said that they were trying to find out if the liquor factory owner had any link with the Aligarh hooch tragedy that claimed several lives in June.
Shahjahanpur SSP S Anand said, “A team led by Tilhar SHO Sanjay Singh and special operations group (SOG) in-charge Rohit raided an under-construction building in Tilhar town and seized 10,565 quarters of a liquor brand, 12,090 fake labels, 14,359 fake barcodes, official stamps of 15 officials, Rs 8.58 lakh cash and a Bolero pickup vehicle bearing Aligarh’s registration number. The under-construction building belongs to Anuj Gupta, who runs licensed liquor shops in Shahjahanpur, while the vehicle belongs to his brother Amit, who owns liquor shops in Aligarh district. We are investigating if they have any link with the Aligarh hooch tragedy.”
