A Canacona excise team along with the driver and the vehicle with liquor consignment. Captured by : The Goan
CANACONA
The Canacona Excise team detained a Karnataka-bound fish container on charges of illegally transporting 225 boxes of different liquor brands worth Rs 5.08 Lakhs at the Polem border check post in Canacona on Wednesday night.
The illegal liquor consignments consisting of 225 liquor boxes of 175 boxes of brandy and 50 boxes of whiskey had been concealed in boxes behind ice-filled fish crates.
According to Supdt of Excise (Canacona) Shamba Naik, the excise team at Polem Checkpost stopped the fish container heading towards Karwar for a normal check at about 8 pm on Wednesday.
They found something suspicious with the ice-filled fish crates neatly placed in the container, as the fish container is supposed to head back after emptying the fish consignment it brought into the State.
A thorough check found that 225 boxes of liquor were neatly placed inside the container beyond the 2-3 rows of ice-filled fish boxes. The truck driver Mallikarjun Hiremath, a native of Bijapur, has been taken into custody and the vehicle was detained at the Polem checkpost.
According to Naik, preliminary interrogation of the driver revealed that the illegal liquor consignment-laden fish container was given to him at Balli, and the driver was asked to deliver the container up to Ankola.
“Some other person was supposed come to take control of the vehicle to an unknown spot. So at present, it is not known as to where this huge consignment of liquor was headed. One liquor brand is from outside Goa and two other brands are manufactured in Goa itself, but we are investigating the source and its destination,” said Naik.
“The entire investigation is being conducted under the direct supervision and leadership of Goa Excise Commissioner Anjana Mishra. Further investigation will also be conducted accordingly.”
