Continuing their intensified drive against the notorious liquor mafia in anticipation of New Year’s eve festivities, officials from the C-division attached to the excise department in Thane seized illicit (haath-bhatti) liquor being transported in a Wagon-R car in Bhayandar on Sunday.
Details of operation that nabbed the accused
Acting on a tip-off, the team, led by excise inspector Ashok Desle under the guidance of deputy commissioner (Konkan) Prasad Surve and excise superintendent Nilesh Sangade, set a trap near Rai village and intercepted the car. Upon inspection, the team discovered more than 580 liters of illicit liquor filled in plastic bags. The driver, identified as Tanaji Prakash Patil, and the other occupant, Ram Pandit Aade, were taken into custody, and the illicit liquor and the car were impounded by the excise team.
In preparations for New Year’s Eve celebrations, excise department officials have already seized liquor worth more than Rs. 1.12 crore in intensified raids conducted in various parts of Thane district in December. In another action, the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police busted an illicit liquor manufacturing unit operating in an isolated area in Mashachapada, Kashimira.
Besides seizing 165 liters of ready illicit liquor and other ingredients, the police team, led by ASI Umesh Patil, destroyed the apparatus used to brew the hooch. One person, identified as Ashok Laadkya, was arrested. All three accused were booked under the relevant sections of the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 in both cases, and further investigations were underway.
