Foreign liquor worth Rs 18 lakh seized, three held for illegal sale

Hyderabad: An employee of a duty-free shop at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Khaled, and a former employee, Anil, along with another person, Venkatesh, were arrested by the Prohibition and Excise department here on Thursday for illegally selling foreign liquor.

The officials seized 171 bottles of various brands of foreign liquor which they were selling without license. Working on reliable information an excise enforcement team raided multiple locations in the city and seized foreign liquor worth Rs. 18 lakh and also recovered Rs.2 lakh in cash and two motorcycles from their possession, Excise deputy commissioner C. Vivekananda Reddy said. The three got the liquor from a duty-free shop in Chennai, while a few bottles were taken from some passengers on Malaysian flights.

Officials first raided a travel office opposite Nampally railway station and seized 12 one-litre bottles of Chivas Regal whisky from Venkatesh. After being grilled, he told the officials he got the liquor from Chennai which was delivered by Doraisingam. On further investigation, the excise team recovered 106 bottles of different brands, including Johnnie Walker Blue, Black and Gold Label, Royal Salute, and Glenmorangie.

The team also raided Khaled's house at Hafeezpet and seized 49 bottles. Four more bottles were recovered from Anil's house. Venkatesh would receive party orders for the liquor and also had a few regular customers.