77 boxes of liquor recovered, 4 held
Lucknow: Police in Baghpat intercepted three vehicles near the Uttar Pradesh-Haryana border and arrested four bootleggers procuring desi liquor from the neighbouring state and rebranding it with labels of premium brands like ‘Old Monk’.
The bootleggers were caught red-handed with 77 boxes of desi liquor, commonly known as ‘Haryana marka’, worth around Rs 2.5 lakh, police said on Wednesday.
ASP Baghpat, Narendra Pratap Singh, said, “Taking advantage of the rising demand of liquor during winter, the accused men used to peddle desi brand and sell it at an exorbitant price in UP after rebranding it with labels of premium brands. The four accused — Rahul, Sunny and Sushil (all from Haryana) and Mannu from Baghpat’s Baraut — were held in the early hours of Tuesday.”
The ASP added: “They were getting cheap liquor from Haryana and Chandigarh, and then transporting it in cars for UP markets. Police also recovered 58 labels of a premium brand which shows the extent of their crime. Further investigation is under way to nab other suspects in bootlegging and rebranding rackets.”
The operation took place at Nivada checkpoint near the state border, police said, adding that all three vehicles were seized along with Rs 50,000 in cash and three mobile phones.
