Fake liquor factory busted; BJD leader among 3 arrested

Excise sleuths busted an illegal liquor manufacturing unit during a raid at Bhubana in Dhenkanal district on Tuesday and arrested three persons including the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Zila Parishad member in this connection.

The accused were identified as Zone 3 BJD Zila Parishad member Subash Majhi, constable of Jakhapura police station Sushant Dalai and Arabinda Das, a resident of Bhubana Mrudanga.

Excise officials have also seized two live bullets from the possession of the constable.

Acting on a tip-off, excise department of Dhenkanal district carried out the raid and nabbed the trio. Also, police seized foreign liquor weighing 51 litre. All the accused have been forwarded to court, sources said. 

The Zila Parishad member said, “It’s a conspiracy. We were asleep when raid was carried out. I have good public contacts. That’s why a conspiracy has been plotted to ruin my political career. No police cases have been filed against me so far.”

Pradeep Panigrahi, Excise Superintendent, said “We got to know bottling of liquor would be carried out in the night. A team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent. The team raided and seized 51 litre foreign liquor from the place. Two bullets were seized from the constable.”

In October 2022, excise and police conducted a joint raid on a two-storied building at Viruda village in Athagarh area and discovered thousands of litres of country liquor and fermented alcohol (pocha) stashed inside the house.