Daltonganj: Two men were arrested, and 2,520 bottles of spurious liquor were seized from a car as police uncovered an illicit liquor racket operating in the district late on Wednesday.The spurious liquor bottles, which were concealed inside 33 cartons labelled as drinking water bottles, were seized from a car which was on its way to Parwa Bazaar. The accused were identified as Shahid Ansari (30), the driver of the car, and Niranjan Mehta (30). The car was headed to Parwa Bazaar under Parwa police station limits.Sadar sub-divisional police officer Rajesh Yadav said Ansari during questioning revealed the involvement of Mehta who was allegedly engaged in diluting, mixing and bottling popular branded IMFL liquor to increase profits. “It was not a case of producing spurious liquor. Genuine liquor was being diluted and repackaged to make two or three bottles from a single bottle,” Yadav said.Counterfeit labels of state excise and prohibitions department were also seized from Mehta’s possession. Anchit Kumar, the officer in-charge of Parwa police station, said, “Both Ansari and Mehta were sent to judicial custody on Thursday under relevant sections of the BNS and Excise Act. Mehta has additionally been booked for cheating and counterfeiting. Ansari also has an Excise case registered against him at Manatu police station in 2024.”
