3 try to smuggle 750 liquor bottles for rural voters, held

Avishek Kumar Dubey | TNN | Apr 9, 2021, 08:03 IST

Ghaziabad: Three persons, including a BSF constable and a man posted in the Army, have been arrested with 750 bottles of liquor in a car. Police said the liquor bottles were meant to lure voters in the panchayat elections, which are just a week away.
Police have identified the accused as Sumit Kumar, a BSF constable posted in West Bengal, and Amit Tyagi, who is in the Army in Ambala. The third one has been identified as one Kuldeep.
SP (rural) Iraj Raza said Sumit and Kuldeep had bought 750 bottles of liquor from Sonipat in Haryana and were on their way to Meerut when police stopped them for checking at Muradnagar.
“Amit’s elder brother Vipin, who is also a constable with the BSF in West Bengal and had come home on vacation, had asked for the liquor. Vipin’s wife Mona alias Mohini is contesting the polls from Machhra village in Meerut. They had planned to distribute the liquor among voters. The liquor had been bought from Haryana as it is cheap there,” the officer said.
“When Sumit and Kuldeep reached Muradnagar, Amit hopped on to their car. A little ahead at the Meerut border, they were stopped for checking. We have recovered 750 bottles of liquor of a Haryana brand. We have lodged an FIR against Mohini too. She is untraceable,” he added.
All the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Excise Act and Section 171 (wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent) of the IPC. They were sent to judicial custody.
In another case, the husband of a candidate from Dasna has been booked for allegedly smuggling liquor into the district. The matter came to light after two persons were arrested with several bottles of liquor. After sustained questioning, they took the name of Satish, whose wife Reena is contesting the rural polls.
Smuggling of liquor from other NCR states has gone up substantially in the wake of the rural polls. Over the past few weeks, police have seized many bottles of liquor that were being smuggled to allegedly lure voters.