Nashik: IMFL worth Rs 26.71 lakh seized

NASHIK: The flying squad of the state excise department on Sunday seized IMFL worth Rs 26.71 lakh from an under construction house in Surgana taluka, Nilesh Sagar, additional collector of Nashik and the nodal office of model code of conduct said.
The excise department officials said that they recovered 24,112 bottles of 180 ml each. The bottles contained IMFL manufactured in Punjab.The liquor was to be sold in Aurnachal Pradesh, said officials. In addition, 6,696 bottles of beer were also seized.
So far, the district election machinery have registered 536 cases at different police stations, of which 13 are related to violation of model code of conduct.
The cases related to the violation of model code of conduct pertain to rural areas with Malegaon Central – 5 registering the maximum number of cases. There are three cases each registered in Kalwan-Surgana and Niphad assembly segments.
Barring the first case in which the husband of an office-bearer of a village in Igatpuri-Trimbakeshwar segment conducted ground-breaking ceremony of water supply scheme for the village, all the other cases are related to failing to comply with the norms laid down for carrying out rallies, programmes, usage of vehicles, and others.
The other cases include illegal transportation of cash, liquor, defacement of public property, seizure of weapons and preventive action by police in cases of externment, etc.
The maximum number of liquor seizure cases were registered from rural areas of the district. The flying squad of the state excise department, rural police and static surveillance teams have collectively seized 77,409 litres of liquor worth Rs 80.17 lakh from rural areas.
“Based on a tip-off, the state excise department seized liquor worth Rs 26.71 lakh. The team raided an under construction house in Savmal region of Hatgad, in Surgana taluka,” an official said.
The Trimbakeshwar-Igatpuri assembly segment topped the chart so far with the seized liquor valued at Rs 29.65 lakh. However, Surgana is in close competition with the Trimbakeshwar-Igatpuri assembly segment as its total recovery of liquor has touched Rs 28.11 lakh mark ever since the model code of conduct has been announced in the state.