Fermented liquor worth Rs 25L seized during crackdown in Balasore

Around 35,000 litre of fermented liquor locally known as ‘poch’ hidden in a pond was seized during a joint raid by Excise and police officials in Balasore on Tuesday.

As per reports, the illegal country liquor manufacturing units were operating in Puruna Balasore area for several days. After receiving information in this regard from reliable sources, the joint raid was conducted. Huge quantity of country liquor worth Rs 25 lakh buried in the pond was seized during the joint raid. Police also seized items worth lakhs of rupees which were used for the preparation of the country liquor.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.

“Huge quantity of fermented liquor was hidden in the pond and the illegal manufacturers had planned to sell it in the local market during the festive season. The fermented liquor was buried in the pond covered with weeds as the road leading to the place was narrow. We received the information about the development from a reliable source and conducted the joint raid under a special drive,” said Balasore DSP.

In a similar incident, a GST enforcement team conducted raids at some mahua flower godowns at Karanjia in Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday and seized around 330 quintals of mahua flower worth around one crore rupees.

As per reports, the joint raid was conducted by Balasore and Baripada GST enforcement teams. Around 1,500 packets of mahua flower were seized during the raids at Parameswar Rout’s godown and Balaji cold storage. The enforcement team also seized many important documents during the raids.

Earlier on October 12, Karanjia police had seized a mahua flower-laden truck and arrested the owner of the vehicle in this connection.