Rohtas cops seize 10,000 litres of Harayana-made liquor

PATNA: A day after a police team was attacked allegedly by a group of bootleggers, the Rohtas police have seized a huge consignment of the India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) from a truck on NH-2 under Sasaram Mufassil police station area of the district on Monday evening.
Police said that a truck bearing registration number of Haryana was found abandoned near a roadside dhaba on the busy NH-2 under Mufassil police station area.During the search of the truck, cops found around 1,130 cartons (around 10,000 litres) of Haryana-made liquor. Police have also recovered some incriminating documents from the vehicle.
Sasaram ASP Rajesh Kumar said that the identity of the person, who had booked the consignment from Haryana, has already been ascertained. “Police have seized the vehicle before the consignment was to be delivered to the liquor smuggler,” the ASP said adding that raids were underway to nab the illegal liquor traders of the area.
The ASP said that heavy rains during the past 24 hours could have prevented the truck driver from taking the vehicle to its destination in remote villages. “Police spotted the truck during patrolling, which led to the recovery of liquor in huge quantity. A complaint has been lodged with the police station concerned under the provisions of new Prohibition and Excise Act,” he told this newspaper on Tuesday.
It may be mentioned here that on Sunday evening, a police team led by Karakat police station SHO Santosh Kumar Singh was pelted with stones when it had gone to conduct a raid at Mohanpur village. Three police personnel, including the SHO, received severe injuries in the incident. All the injured were admitted to a private hospital at Bikramganj, where the condition of a police constable Raju Singh is stated to be critical.
The SHO said that altogether 35 persons have been named as accused in the FIR, while 250 others were unidentified. A woman identified as Sita Devi was later arrested with pouches of liquor. “Raids are on to arrest the other accused in the case,” the SHO added.
Meanwhile, the state police headquarters has asked Rohtas SP Satyaveer Singh to initiate steps to check smuggling of liquor in the district and arrest the accused involved in the murderous attack on police personnel.