Cheap liquor in premium bottles: Racket busted in Lucknow, 2 held
Excise officials in Lucknow uncovered a liquor racket, seizing ₹3 lakh worth of cheap liquor in premium bottles and arresting two suspects.
Amidst the ongoing festive season, excise officials unearthed a racket in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow selling cheap liquor packaged in premium brand bottles at exorbitant rates. “The seized stock is valued at around ₹3 lakh,” confirmed Lucknow district excise officer Karunendra Singh.
Singh said the illegal activity had been going on for several days. “On receiving a tip-off, our teams raided the premises and caught two accused red-handed while they were refilling cheaper liquor in bottles of premium labels,” he added.
The excise official said the first raid was conducted early on Friday near Mubarakpur intersection under Sairpur police station. On the instructions of the state excise commissioner and the Lucknow DM, a joint excise team led by inspectors Shikhar Kumar Mall and Abhishek Singh seized 365 bottles and cans of high-end brands.
During the raid, one Navneet Gupta alias Gopal Gupta, 32, a resident of Mubarakpur near IIM, was arrested. A case was registered against him under Section 60 of the Excise Act and several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the official said.
“During questioning, the accused named one Monu as his associate who supplied these bottles for resale at higher prices,” excise inspector Abhishek Singh said. Following this, another raid was carried out on October 3 on a premises linked to Navneet Gupta and Monu Singh, a resident of Harinagar, Balaganj, under Thakurganj police station. Some 24 empty bottles of different brands, 77 QR codes and a country-made pistol were seized during the raid.
A fresh case was registered at Thakurganj police station under relevant sections of the BNS and Section 3/25 of the Arms Act and both accused were taken into custody, officials said.
