Latest news with #SonuBagaria
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
162 cartons of illicit liquor seized
Lucknow: Acting on a tip-off about inter-state liquor smuggling, a joint team of Excise Inspector Zone 3 and PGI police seized a major consignment of illicit liquor from a pickup truck near the Utretia underpass on Kisan Path on Thursday. Last week, a similar catch was made from Punjab, which was going to Bihar. The crackdown was carried out under the special statewide campaign to curb the illegal manufacture, sale, and smuggling of liquor, as per directives of the Uttar Pradesh govt and the excise commissioner. The vehicle, bearing a fake UP number plate was intercepted and found to be transporting 162 cartons—totalling 7,776 tetra packs—of Rajasthan-made foreign liquor branded as Royal Classic Whisky. The liquor was concealed under layers of black plastic and general-purpose crates to avoid detection. The arrested accused—driver Sonu Bagaria and helper Sitaram Bagaria. TNN
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Tipped off Lko cops put paid to ingenuity of liquor smugglers
The bootleggers from Rajasthan had certainly shown ingenuity in hiding the contraband they were carrying, but the police and excise department of Uttar Pradesh were ready for them at Uttaretiya, in the outskirts of the state capital. The liquor seized in a joint operation of the excise and police department in Lucknow (Sourced) Late on Wednesday night, the team seized 7,776 tetra packs of illegal liquor worth nearly ₹18 lakh. The consignment was coming from Rajasthan and bound for dry and poll-bound Bihar, so said the two men arrested for transporting the liquor. Tipped off, the team had laid in wait and intercepted a pick-up vehicle, near Uttaretiya underpass on Kisan Path. The vehicle was properly covered in thick, black plastic, which when uncovered revealed stacked empty vegetable crates. Behind a couple of rows of these, was what the officials were hunting for. They recovered 162 boxes containing Royal Classic Whiskey manufactured in Rajasthan, totaling 1,400 litres. Police arrested two smugglers including Sonu Bagaria, 25, and Sitaram Bagaria, 19, both residents of Khudiala village in Jaipur, Rajasthan. They were using a Mahindra pick-up with a fake UP number plate (UP80HR5336), while the actual vehicle registration (RJ47GA2782) was from Rajasthan. During questioning, the accused confessed to being part of an inter-state smuggling racket for the past 7–8 months. They admitted they were paid ₹7,000 per trip by a man named Kamal Sharan from their village, who arranged the vehicle and the liquor. Once in Bihar, the consignment was to be handed over to one Lalu Ram, who remains at large. Excise inspector Ram Shyam Tripathi confirmed that smugglers had erased MRPs from packaging to sell the liquor at inflated prices in Bihar, where prohibition laws are in force and demand for alcohol fuels black market rates up to three times the original cost. This was the second such bust within four days. Deputy excise commissioner Rakesh Kumar Singh said that on July 19, the excise department had caught a truck near Kabirpur village on Sultanpur Road and recovered over 14,000 liquor bottles worth ₹30 lakh. Smugglers had hidden the liquor under construction material. Both accused in the latest case have been sent to jail, and a case has been lodged at PGI Police Station under sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and Excise Act. Police are now trying to trace the vehicle owner, Pradhan Bagaria, and the main conspirator, Kamal Sharan. Pic cap: . Sourced.
