Mira-Bhayandar: The next time you buy a bottle of your favorite Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brand from a wine shop or order it at any permit room, be mindful of tampered/missing seals on packaging.

With the arrest of a bootlegger from Kashimira last week, officials from the excise wing (Thane district) have blown the lid off a major racket in which the racketeers opened sealed of two-liter whisky bottles, drained around 400 ml of the liquor and filled it up with mineral water before slamming the sealed cap back into place with the help of packaging equipment in Kongaon village near Bhiwandi.

The drained liquor was again adulterated with water and refilled in empty bottles procured from local scrap dealers, before finding its way to local bootleggers and even authorized liquor dispensing outlets in the district.

The marathon operation which lasted for six days was headed by superintendent of excise (Thane district)-Pravin Tambe under the guidance of the state excise commissioner-Dr. Rajesh Deshmukh.

Acting on a tip-off, the excise team had caught a bootlegger identified as- Ramkesh Sitaram Gupta from the Penkarpada area of Kashimira on 1, April. Gupta, who was found to be in possession of adulterated IMFL worth Rs 1.25 lakh. His arrest led to a liquor repacking unit which was operating from a house in the Jambhulwadi area of Kongaon village on 4, April.

The team seized bottles of liquor, empty bottles, counterfeit labels and other equipment/materials which were being used to replicate authentic packaging- collectively worth more than Rs 61.46 lakh. This apart from more than 200 cartons of mineral water. While four more people were arrested, the king-pin of the racket identified as- Rakesh Balaram Mhatre is still absconding.

Gangs of Kongaon. Single Day Permits Misused.

Kongaon village which is a hub of liquor business owing to the presence of multiple authorized wholesalers and distributors (FL: I license holders) has allegedly become a hunting ground for some notorious elements who on the virtue of one day transport permits (which allows temporary movement of liquor) ferried the consignment to the repackaging units for adulteration.

This is evident by the fact that the flying squad (number 2) and the excise inspector (Bhiwandi) raided two more repackaging units in Kongaon during the operation.

“The racketeers deliberately got the one day permits (valid for 24 hours) issued during the evening hours so that they could get enough time to adulterate the consignment before delivery at the designated destination.” said a senior excise officer.

Wine Shops on Radar.

Apart from small-time bootleggers, several authorized wine shops and permit rooms in the district are under the scanner of investigations for purchasing the adulterated IMFL from the racketeers at more than half the maximum retail price (MRP), highly placed sources revealed.

The adulterated booze was passed off as genuine to retail buyers approaching wine shops and customers patronizing the permit rooms, not only raising health concerns due to contamination, but also causing a huge dent to the state exchequer.