Excise officials in Leh seize hundreds of liquor bottles smuggled in
By: Muzamil Bhat CK
Srinagar
In a surprise development, excise officials in the union territory of Ladakh seized hundreds of liquor bottles which were allegedly smuggled in the UT from Delhi in an Air India charter flight.
Reports from Leh said that three persons were arrested in this alleged smuggling case.
Reports said that Leh excise officials got the inputs from a citizen that liquor had been smuggled in the flight and the smugglers were about to leave. Acting on inputs, the seizure was made on Tuesday from two cars outside the airport.
According to PTI quoting officials, “There were eight cartons carrying around 170 bottles of liquor and about 100 beer bottles. The cartoons had Air India charter flight’s tag on them”.
A contractual employee of Air India and two more people have been arrested in connection with the case, the officials said, adding that the cars have also been seized.
The excise officials have sought information from senior Air India staff at Leh about the attempted smuggling, they said.
They have also sought details from Air India about the passengers on the basis of the luggage tags, the officials said.
Describing the modus operandi, they said that liquor bottles are sold to private hotels in Ladakh at higher prices as there is a shortage in the Union Territory.
This is not the first time that such a case has come to light. A few days back, excise officials had seized three cartons of liquor from outside the airport here.
The liquor had come on another Air India charter flight, they said.
A total of six people, including employees of a restaurant, have been arrested in these two cases, they said.
With inputs from PTI
