PRAYAGRAJ: To dodge the law enforcement agencies, Haryana-based liquor smugglers have now pushed into private passenger buses to smuggle illegal liquor consignments from Rohtak and Hisar regions to Bihar.
The owner of the bus was offered Rs 1 or 1.5 lakh per trip to smuggle the consignments wherein the racketeers ply their SUVs to escort the buses on route from Haryana to Bihar.
The startling fact came to fore when a team of UP STF on Tuesday arrested six members of the inter-state gang involved in liquor smuggling and seized illegal liquor consignment worth Rs 15 lakh. The racketeers have made special hidden pockets inside buses to hide the consignments. They used to charge less money from passengers.
The seizure of 75 cartons of IMFL worth around Rs 15 lakh in Sultanpur district has exposed a new modus operandi followed by interstate liquor smuggling rackets.
Deputy SP(STF) Navendu Kumar conceded the change in modus operandi of liquor smugglers. “Only professional bus services are hired. The private luxury passenger’s buses involved have fake registration plates. There are different agents to escort these luxury passenger’s buses to different points, almost like a relay race, “Kumar said.
DSP also maintained that racket kingpins had stopped travelling in trucks ever since the STF tightened the noose around liquor smugglers in UP. “The agents escort the private passenger buses and also maintain a distance of at least three to five kilometres from the buses carrying the consignments. Moreover, the hired agents checked routes beforehand and preferred travelling at night.
Apart from keeping major chunk of consignment inside hidden buses special cabin boxes , racketeers also carry small consignment with them in escort vehicles. Interestingly, “From drivers to agents, everyone gets a handsome cut for their role and responsibilities. The drivers are trained to misguide police if caught.
Besides, they are never privy to the entire route plan. Hence, despite their arrests, it is difficult to zero in on the gang leader,” admitted a senior cop, but said police were oiling their networking machinery for breaking the networking of liquor racketeers.
DSP, meanwhile, said ” racketeers involved in illegal liquor smuggling earn hefty profits to smuggle liquor in different districts of Bihar”. He, however, revealed ” Racketeers often opt NCR route i.e. Ghaziabad \ Meerut – Sasaram \ Patna route wherein they get a sizable passengers to board on buses for different towns of Bihar and also charge less fair compared to government buses’.
When the STF team intercepted the private Volvo bus near Mujib trisection on Kanpur – Lucknow- Sultanpur highway in Sultanpur district, STF personnel had to make arrangement to shift passengers to other buses heading towards Bihar. A total of six members of an interstate gang including drivers of SUV and bus, conductor and three others were held .
The owner of the bus was offered Rs 1 or 1.5 lakh per trip to smuggle the consignments wherein the racketeers ply their SUVs to escort the buses on route from Haryana to Bihar.
The startling fact came to fore when a team of UP STF on Tuesday arrested six members of the inter-state gang involved in liquor smuggling and seized illegal liquor consignment worth Rs 15 lakh. The racketeers have made special hidden pockets inside buses to hide the consignments. They used to charge less money from passengers.
The seizure of 75 cartons of IMFL worth around Rs 15 lakh in Sultanpur district has exposed a new modus operandi followed by interstate liquor smuggling rackets.
Deputy SP(STF) Navendu Kumar conceded the change in modus operandi of liquor smugglers. “Only professional bus services are hired. The private luxury passenger’s buses involved have fake registration plates. There are different agents to escort these luxury passenger’s buses to different points, almost like a relay race, “Kumar said.
DSP also maintained that racket kingpins had stopped travelling in trucks ever since the STF tightened the noose around liquor smugglers in UP. “The agents escort the private passenger buses and also maintain a distance of at least three to five kilometres from the buses carrying the consignments. Moreover, the hired agents checked routes beforehand and preferred travelling at night.
Apart from keeping major chunk of consignment inside hidden buses special cabin boxes , racketeers also carry small consignment with them in escort vehicles. Interestingly, “From drivers to agents, everyone gets a handsome cut for their role and responsibilities. The drivers are trained to misguide police if caught.
Besides, they are never privy to the entire route plan. Hence, despite their arrests, it is difficult to zero in on the gang leader,” admitted a senior cop, but said police were oiling their networking machinery for breaking the networking of liquor racketeers.
DSP, meanwhile, said ” racketeers involved in illegal liquor smuggling earn hefty profits to smuggle liquor in different districts of Bihar”. He, however, revealed ” Racketeers often opt NCR route i.e. Ghaziabad \ Meerut – Sasaram \ Patna route wherein they get a sizable passengers to board on buses for different towns of Bihar and also charge less fair compared to government buses’.
When the STF team intercepted the private Volvo bus near Mujib trisection on Kanpur – Lucknow- Sultanpur highway in Sultanpur district, STF personnel had to make arrangement to shift passengers to other buses heading towards Bihar. A total of six members of an interstate gang including drivers of SUV and bus, conductor and three others were held .
