Cops seek bribe from liquor smugglers, one of them held

Ghaziabad: A constable attached with the excise department has been arrested for allegedly seeking a bribe to allow smuggling of liquor worth lakhs of rupees. The liquor, found in a mini truck, was on its way for distribution in the upcoming panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, police said. The driver was arrested too.
The arrested men are constable Sandeep Kumar and Kulveer Prakash, a resident of Haryana who was driving the vehicle. Another accused constable, Madan Pal, is absconding.
Acting on a complaint, Kumar and Pal stopped and searched a milk van, Tata 407 mini truck, at Duhai check post on Tuesday night and found liquor in a big storage container. They allegedly asked the driver, Prakash, to call up the owner of the vehicle and demanded Rs 4 lakh to let the truck go.
Even as the driver paid the constables Rs 4,000, including Rs 1,000 in Nepali currency notes, as advance, a team of senior police and excise officials arrived and the liquor was confiscated. The driver later divulged his deal with the constables. The senior cops found the money in Kumar’s possession and arrested him.
Dr Iraz Raja, SP (rural), said Prakash told police that the constables had made eight calls to the vehicle owner. Cops also recovered CCTV footage from the check post. Prakash was booked under relevant sections of the Excise Act.
Both the constables were booked under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.The arrested men were sent to judicial custody after being produced in court.