Bhubaneswar: A major racket involved in the packaging of spurious liquor in bottles was busted by authorities at the Daruthenga forest of Bhubaneswar on Friday. Four persons have been taken into custody in this connection.
According to an official, the Odisha excise department and the police acted on a tip-off and raided a packaged water bottling unit and made the startling discovery. Spurious liquor worth nearly Rs 19 lakh was seized during the raid.
“We came to know that barrels of spurious country liquor were being transported in barrels from Athagarh in Cuttack to Bhubaneswar. At the packaging unit, the liquor would get poured into 100 ml bottles and sealed. These were then sold to people, particularly slum dwellers,” an excise department official said.
A 100 ml bottle of country liquor apparently sold for Rs 40. The authorities have seized nearly 9,000 litres of country liquor from the spot. Among those arrested, two are from the Tigiria area of Athagarh, Cuttack.
Spurious country liquor is a menace in nearly all states, including Odisha. There are severe health hazards involved for consumers. According to the Odisha government, 231 people lost their lives in the state due to consumption of spurious liquor between 1992 and 2019.
In August 2024, two people died after consuming spurious liquor in the Ganjam district, after which the government ordered a crackdown on illegal country liquor vends.
