The Darjeeling district excise department has seized an ambulance carrying 109 cartons of duty-unpaid liquor on the Fulbari-Ghoshpukur bypass near Siliguri, in an operation carried out on Wednesday night following a tip-off, the Siliguri Chronicle reported.

Source: Siliguri Chronicle

According to the excise department, the seized liquor has an estimated market value of Rs 24,52,500. Including the ambulance, which was also seized, the total estimated value of the seizure stands at Rs 32,52,500. When the driver noticed excise officials, he allegedly tried to escape with the vehicle, triggering a chase; after the ambulance was stopped, he fled on foot in the darkness.

A second report put the haul at about 981 litres of non-duty-paid liquor packed in the same 109 cartons, and said officials had received information that a consignment was allegedly being moved through Phansidewa to avoid excise duty. The excise department has registered a case under the Bengal Excise Act, 1909, and an investigation is under way to identify those behind the alleged smuggling run.

Source: Orange Prime News

109 cartonsduty-unpaid liquor recovered from the ambulance
981 litresapproximate quantity of liquor seized, per excise source
Rs 24,52,500estimated market value of the liquor alone
Rs 32,52,500total value including the seized ambulance

Two more held in subdivision-wide liquor drive

The seizure formed part of a wider enforcement drive across the Siliguri subdivision. Pradhannagar police arrested Rakesh Paul of Gunjabari in Cooch Behar and recovered 28 bottles of country-made liquor from him, while Bhaktinagar police arrested Surendar Sahani of Prakash Nagar with 12 sealed bottles of country spirit, Orange Prime News reported. Bagdogra police also raided the Bhojnarayan area on Thursday and destroyed illegal hooch dens, according to the report.