300 cartons of spurious liquor seized, three Ggm shops sealed

The Rewari police seized more than 300 cartons of spurious Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) from two licensed liquor shops in Gurugram and one in Manesar on Thursday and sealed the three shops, police officers aware of the matter said on Friday.

- Leena Dhankhar

The three shops were involved in packaging and selling IMFL in bottles of expensive liquor brands and transporting them to different states across the country, said investigators.

Police were led to the three shops by a truck driver arrested on Tuesday for transporting IMFL along with empty bottles and caps of Old Monk rum, liquor refilling machinery, packing material, and holograms, said district excise officer.

HT in October reported on the rebottling and sale of prem liquor bottles in Gurugram and Faridabad. The report exposed a booming racket in the Millennium City where traders bought used, high-end liquor bottles from scrap dealers, filled them with cheap whisky, slapped on new labels and caps, sealed them and sold to online vendors, shops, and even bars. The report led the state government to order a crackdown on the spurious liquor business.

To be sure, the seizures during the current round of action involve spurious liquor, as compared to the counterfeiting operation HT uncovered in October.