The state excise department's Pimpri division has seized 60,000 illegally manufactured country liquor bottles bearing the Ahmednagar-based Padmashri Vitalrao Vikhe Patil Cooperative Sugar Mill Limited label.
The bottles were seized by excise department officials on January 25 when they raided a house in Haveli on the old Mumbai-Pune expressway.
An FIR in this regard was registered at Dehu Road police station of Pimpri-Chinchwad police station on Thursday. The case is based on a complaint filed by Kailash Lahair (44), general manager of the sugar factory.
Police said the state goods department, Pimpri division, arrested two persons on January 23 in connection with the illegal supply of liquor case.
They have been identified as Zulfikar Taj Ali Chaudhary (68), a resident of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Amit Thakur Aher (30), a resident of Talasari, Palghar district, Maharashtra.
After interrogating them, the state excise team further searched a tin shack in Haveri's Mamurdi village and seized 60,000 liquor bottles worth Rs 2.1 million from the spot.
According to officials, a Padma Shri Vitalrao Vikhe Patil Cooperative Sugar Mill Limited label was found on the liquor bottle.
Following this, Excise Department officials sealed the godown. As mentioned in the FIR, the factory also manufactures and sells country liquor and has obtained the requisite government permits for the same. Therefore, the state excise department sent samples of the seized liquor to the factory for verification.
Further investigation revealed that the liquor seized by the Excise Department was not manufactured at the factory. Factory officials informed the state excise department that the seized liquor was fake.
As a result, the Excise Department charged four people with being involved in illegal supply of liquor.
Two of them, Zulfikar and Amit, have been arrested, while the search for two others, identified as Aslam Daulat Khan and Sanjay Bhagwat Pandey, is on. Investigation revealed that fake liquor was being manufactured illegally in Goa.
Meanwhile, at Dehu Road Police Station, a separate charge was filed for allegedly creating fake labels with the factory's name and pasting them on fake liquor bottles.
Police have booked four suspects under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Trademarks Act.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Originally uploaded to: February 2, 2024 20:14 IST
