Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police on Tuesday recovered 180 liters of country liquor hidden in soft drink bottles from a private bus at Udala in Mayurbhanj district and arrested three people in the case.
Those arrested are Sanyasi Bisoi and Umakant Das of Bhubaneswar and Putu Singh of Udala Ambikadeipur.
According to sources, liquor was being illegally smuggled from Khunta to Bhubaneswar through private buses. Based on the information, the Udala police stopped the bus named ‘Raja Babu’ and recovered the smuggler disguised as a cold drink bottle.
Two businessmen from Bhubaneswar had gone to Khunta to collect illegal liquor and had taken a night bus with the intention of transporting it to the city. The accused revealed that they had successfully smuggled liquor for which they were paid Rs 500 per bag.
‘I came to get alcohol. This is the first time that he was involved in smuggling,’ admitted Sanyasi Bisoi, an accused.
Another accused, Umakant Das, claimed ignorance about the operation and said, “I did not know that it was illegal liquor smuggling. They brought me here, and we were carrying liquor in bags.
Putu Singh, the third accused, admitted, “I was carrying a bag. For each bag, our boss used to pay us Rs 700-800. Our village boss directed some people from Bhubaneswar’s hi-tech area to deliver the bags.”
There has been no official response from the police regarding the smuggling operation.