Kotpad: The Excise Department Sunday night busted a fake Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) manufacturing unit here in Koraput district, seizing spurious liquor and packaging materials worth over 20 lakh, officials said.
The raid was carried out at an isolated house along Jail Road in the Bandhaguda area following specific intelligence inputs. The operation was undertaken on the directions of Koraput Excise Superintendent Arun Kumar Padhi.
Flying squad officer Chandra Sekhar Padiami, excise officers Srikant Das (Jeypore) and Niladri Bihari Mishra (Kotpad) were part of the raiding party. The seizure included 1,545.36 litres of duplicate liquor packed in 170 cartons, 15,847 bottles of various brands including Royal Stag, RC Whisky, Sterling, MC and Goa Special, 20 litres of spirit, three bottles of essence and 20 litres of blended spirit.
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Officials said the unit was allegedly run by two brothers, Amit Gupta and Pankaj Gupta of Malcha Mal village under Murthahandi panchayat, who were reportedly supplying spurious liquor to Kotpad and parts of neighbouring Chhattisgarh for a long time.