City liquor racket busted; Dhoolpet kingpin arrested

Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, the task force of the Excise and Prohibition Department, on Sunday, seized foreign made liquor worth Rs 75 lakh and arrested the kingpin of the smuggling racket Harish Singh, a resident of Dhoolpet, who has been evading arrest for the last four years.

The contraband liquor seized included brands of Johnnie Walker Red Label, Black Label, Glenfiddich, Royal Salute.

According to the officials, they were on the hunt for Harish Singh for the last four years as there were four cases against him. 

On a tip off on Sunday, they had raided a Morning Star bus and seized 42 bottles of foreign liquor. As transportation of contraband is also a crime, the officials seized the bus too.

Recently the officials arrested one Siva Patil who is also into the business of smuggling the foreign liquor. The officials said, six others have also been arrested along with Harish Singh who are part of the gang. Till date, a total of about 1800 non-duty paid liquor bottles have been recovered.

Initial investigation has revealed that the Harish Singh had been smuggling foreign liquor bottles from Chennai Sea and Airport to the extent of about 900 liquor bottles every month worth about Rs 50 lakh.

The officials said manufacturing, selling, transportation and buying of non-duty paid liquor is an offence under 34(A) of Telangana Excise Act, punishable for a period of 3 years to 10 years imprisonment.