The Excise Police in Bihar's Gopalganj district have seized around 415 litres of foreign-made liquor from two cars and arrested three alleged smugglers during separate operations ahead of the Chhath festival, officials said on Thursday. The seized liquor is estimated to be worth approximately Rs 10 lakh.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The department has intensified vehicle-checking drives across the district to prevent liquor smuggling during the festival. Acting on a tip-off about a major consignment being transported illegally, Excise Department teams launched searches at several locations.

Two operations, two cars

During one operation in the Manjha police station area, officials recovered around 341 litres of foreign-made liquor from a car and arrested two alleged smugglers.

In a separate operation along the Premnagar-Badariya road in the Barauli police station area, the team recovered approximately 73 litres of liquor concealed in a specially constructed compartment inside a car seat, and arrested one person in connection with the seizure. In total, two cars were seized and three alleged smugglers arrested across the two operations.

Source: Nation Press

Excise Superintendent Amritesh Kumar Jha said the department was conducting continuous raids and vehicle inspections to check the illegal transportation of liquor ahead of Chhath. The arrested persons are being interrogated, and officials are investigating the backward and forward linkages of the smuggling network to identify its suppliers and intended recipients, with further action underway, he said.

Prohibition and the festival rush

Bihar has enforced total prohibition under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, and enforcement is traditionally tightened around major festivals, when smuggling attempts typically spike. The Gopalganj operations are separate from a Patna-district crackdown a day earlier at Fatuha, where police reported seizing a much larger stockpile from a storage site.