Excise officials seize 250 liquor bottles smuggled into Leh
Excise officers have seized over 250 bottles of liquor that were allegedly smuggled into Leh from Delhi on an Air India charter flight and arrested three people, including a contractual employee of the national carrier, officials said on Wednesday. Acting on inputs, the seizure was made on Tuesday from two cars outside the airport, they said.
The eight cartons carried 170 liquor bottles, 100 beer bottles
"There were eight cartons carrying around 170 bottles of liquor and about 100 beer bottles. The cartons had Air India charter flight's tag on them," an official said. "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.
Such liquor is sold to private hotels at higher prices
"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 passengers on basis of luggage tags," they added. 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.
Few days back, officials had seized three cartons of liquor
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 in Leh. "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.
