650 cartons of liquor seized in UP

In a major haul, 650 cartons of liquor worth nearly Rs 40 lakh was seized today from an Agra-bound truck in Farah area of the district, an excise official said.
Acting on a tip-off, theExcise department and police conducted the raid near Mahuvan toll on NH2 and seized the liquor-laden truck and arrested its driver, district Excise officer Pawan Kumar said.
However, four unidentified people in an SUV that was escorting the truck managed to escape, he said.
Today's is the second biggest seize in Mathura in last three years, he said. On Friday liquor worth 50lakh was seized near Kotban border here.

The market priceof the seized liquor is around Rs 40 lakh, Kumar said, adding it wasbeing taken from Chandigarh to Agra, where it was supposed to be delivered to some other party.
An FIR has been lodged against Dhian Singh, the arrested driver of the truck, as well as the management of the liquor distillery in Punjab including its managing director, Kumar said.
"A car with four persons, bearing the flag of a political party, escorting the truck managed to give raid party the slip," he said.