Over 200 litres country liquor seized in separate raids in Odisha, 5 held

Dhenkanal/Nabarangpur: Launching crackdown on illegal liquor trade, Excise sleuths today seized around 244 litres of country liquor and took five bootleggers into custody in separate incidents in Dhenknal and Nabarnagpur districts today.

In the first incident, an Excise team conducted a raid in Damol under Parjang police limits near Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district in the wee hours today after getting a tip-off on a hooch consignment.

During the raid, the officials found an SUV laden with 130 litres of country liquor and seized those. The team also found 70 litres more which was being transported on a bike and arrested the rider identified as Suresh Behera.

In a similar incident, Excise officials seized around 44 litres of country liquor after raiding a number of villages in Nabarangpur district later in the morning.

Four persons identified as Tarabati Rajagana of Parua village, Purna Chandra Bisoi of Chirama village, Gopinath Jani of Pandikosha village and Meghanada Harijan of Saukiguda village were taken into custody by the officials during the raid.

Held accused in both the cases have been forwarded to court, informed Excise sources.