Foreign liquor worth Rs 40 lakh seized in Araria; one held

The truck driver, who is a resident of Faizganj (Badaun) in UP, has been booked under Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016 which was amended in 2018, Hydari said. The liquor consignment was being taken to Muzaffarpur in north Bihar from West Bengal via Araria, he said.

A joint team of the excise department and local police seized 400 cartons of foreign liquor worth Rs 40 lakh and arrested the truck driver from Bihars Araria district on Saturday. Acting on a tip off, the team intercepted a truck and seized 400 cartons of foreign liquor hid in bags containing maize from it on Ararria-Forbesganj NH 57 near Simraha bazar, Simraha police station officer-in-charge M A Hydari said.

The value of the seized liquor is estimated to be around Rs 40 lakh, an excise department official said. The truck driver, who is a resident of Faizganj (Badaun) in UP, has been booked under Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016 which was amended in 2018, Hydari said.

The liquor consignment was being taken to Muzaffarpur in north Bihar from West Bengal via Araria, he said. The Bihar government had on April 5, 2016 banned the manufacture, trade, storages transportation, sale, consumption of liquor including IMFL in the state and made it a punishable offence for those violating the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016 which was amended in 2018. PTI CORR AR KK KK