The Nalanda prohibition department and a special team of the Additional Director General (Prohibition), Patna, seized 395 cartons of foreign liquor in a joint raid in Biharsharif on Tuesday, November 10, Dinman Times reported. Acting on information from the State Narcotics Control Bureau that a large consignment of foreign liquor was being brought into Bihar via Jharkhand for delivery in Patna, the joint team stopped a suspicious truck near the District Transport Office (DTO) on the Patna–Rajouli fourlane in Biharsharif and searched it.

Source: Dinman Times

Inside, officials found 395 cartons of 'Blue Stroke' brand foreign liquor hidden under husk, the report said. News Nalanda put the quantity at about 3,200 litres of English liquor with an estimated value of over Rs 50 lakh. The truck carried a Bihar registration number, BR-01, and two Uttar Pradesh number plates were also found inside it, Dinman Times reported.

Source: Dinman Times / News Nalanda

The driver, Pawan Kumar, a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana, was arrested at the spot. Excise Superintendent Sanjay Kumar Chaudhary said the joint raid was carried out on the prohibition and narcotics bureau's information, and the raiding team included Biharsharif excise station in-charge Inspector Nitish Kumar and other officers and security personnel, News Nalanda reported.

Source: News Nalanda

An FIR has been registered under the Prohibition Act and further legal action has begun, Dinman Times reported. The arrested driver is being questioned, on whose information further action will follow, News Nalanda said. Liquor manufacture, sale and consumption have been banned across Bihar since April 2016, and officials say smuggled consignments routed through neighbouring states remain a standing enforcement challenge. The allegations against the arrested driver are under investigation and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: Dinman Times / News Nalanda