Khargone: Police arrested a man allegedly involved in the illicit transportation of 150 cartons of beer valued at Rs 5.43 lakh, concealed under maize stalks on a tractor-trailer, in the Karahi police station area of Khargone district on Tuesday.
Acting on specific intelligence, Karahi police received information that a tractor-trailer was transporting a large consignment of illegal liquor from Barwaha towards Mandleshwar via the canal road. The vehicle was reportedly escorted by a white car conducting reconnaissance to help it evade law enforcement.
A police team led by Karahi police station in-charge Rajendra Ingle set up a checkpoint on Katargaon Canal Road. Both vehicles were intercepted. The tractor-trailer driver, 26-year-old Raju Kushwaha, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, Indore, was apprehended, while the car driver managed to flee, abandoning the vehicle.
During a search of the trailer, police uncovered the liquor consignment concealed beneath layers of dried maize stalks in an attempt to avoid detection. Kushwaha could not produce any licence, permit, or transportation documents for the consignment, which amounted to 1,800 litres. The team seized liquor valued at approximately Rs 5,43,600, along with the tractor-trailer worth around Rs 7 lakh and the car valued at approximately Rs 10 lakh, bringing the total seizure to Rs 22,43,600.
During interrogation, Kushwaha identified the absconding car driver as Golu Chandel. Police confirmed that efforts to trace and arrest the car driver were underway.
