PANJIM: Excise Department on Wednesday served a show cause notice to Mazid Mohammad, whose vehicle was caught with illicit liquor worth Rs 2.63 lakh at Polem check post last week. Mohammad, a resident of Puttur in Karnataka, under whose name the seized vehicle has been registered, is directed to remain physically present before Goa Excise Commissioner P S Reddy.
On July 2 night, Excise officials, on a tip-off, stopped a mini truck bearing registration number KA-19-B-8145 that was trying to cross Polem border with empty fish crates at the rear of the vehicle and under which were Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) liquor bottles covered with plastic sheet.
IMFL liquor of 750 ml (244 crates) and 180 ml (50 crates) were seized by Excise officials, but the driver reportedly from Karnataka managed to give the raiding team the slip and is still at large.
Reddy said that a team of Excise officials has been dispatched to Karnataka to probe the matter and verify the vehicle registration and locate the driver.
Inquiry into the smuggling has revealed that the seized products were from Blue Ocean Distillers at Curtorim, which had done all legal formalities before selling it to a wholesaler. “We checked entire records of the distillery soon after the seizure at Pollem. The distillery has completed all paper work including payment of Excise duty,” Reddy stated.
The officials suspect a conspiracy between the Margao-based wholesaler and the driver. “We are investigating on how and to whom the wholesaler had sold the liquor cartons and whether it possessed transport permit,” said the commissioner. – HD
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