Missing liquor case: Cops seize Rs 97 laks cash, pistol, SUV in raid

The Haryana police on Saturday seized Rs 97 lakh in cash, two pistols and three mobile phones besides a sports utility vehicle following a raid in a house to nab the prime accused in the case of a huge liquor stock gone missing from two godowns in Sonipat.

The Sonipat police raided the house of accused Bhupinder Singh, but he managed to escape, said officials. The two godowns in Sonipat from where a huge stock of liquor was reported gone missing early this week are stated to belong to accused Bhupinder Singh's wife.

The raid was conducted two days after Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij questioned the rational of keeping seized liquors in godowns, owned by a person (Bhupinder Singh), who is facing 8-10 cases of liquor smuggling.

Keeping liquor in the property of such a person is very wrong. The stock of liquor should not have been kept in these godowns either by police or the excise department. I have asked the SIT to probe which official had ordered that liquor be kept there. It seems the place had become a den of smuggling, he had said.

Vij had also said a huge stock of seized liquor could not have gone missing from two godowns in Sonipat without the connivance of officials.

According to the minister, 5,500 liquor boxes have gone missing from the Sonipat godown which was under the supervision of the police department.

The other godown is being looked after by the state excise department.

A special investigation team is probing the case of seized liquor gone missing from the two godowns which are close to each other.