Spurious liquor racket has links to Goa, Bengaluru and Mumbai, say Excise officials

The spurious liquor racket busted in Annamayya and NTR districts has links to Goa, Bengaluru and Mumbai, according to the officials of Prohibition and Excise department. The key accused, Addepalli Janardhan Rao and his brother, A. Jaganmoham Rao, have been in liquor trade since 2012.

The accused were allegedly manufacturing Non-Duty Paid Liquor (NDPL) and marketing it through various liquor outlets in Mulakalacheru and the ANR Restaurant and Bar owned by them. The Prohibition and Excise officials had arrested Janardhan Rao at the Gannavaram airport a few days ago while he was returning from South Africa.

During the investigation, it was found that Accused No. 1, Janardhan Rao, began manufacturing NDPL during COVID-19. He reportedly purchased cheap liquor from Hyderabad in plastic cans, refilled them in 1 litre bottles, and sold the same under different brand names at ANR Bar in Ibrahimpatnam.

Another accused, Balaji of Goa, who worked in a distillery and experienced in liquor manufacturing, supplied spirit, caramel, essence and other ingredients to Janardhan Rao.

The liquor racket used fake labels printed at Hyderabad and send them to Ibrahimpatnam to sell the spurious liquor. They also purchased plastic cans, bottles and caps in bulk and transported the material to the bottling unit in NTR district.

The accused manufactured spurious liquor under different brand names and supplied the stocks to the liquor outlets, an Excise official investigating the case told The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Janardhan Rao planned to set up a distillery in South Africa, and travelled to Luanda to execute this plan. The accused also planned to open a bar at Hyderabad, from where they planned to transport the raw material.

“Janardhan Rao and his gang used to bring spurious liquor manufactured at Mulakalacheruvu and transport them in cans to Ibrahimpatnam. The accused used to fill the liquor in bottles and affix fake labels of different liquor brands on them,” said NTR District Prohibition and Excise Officer (DPEO) S. Srinivas.

The Excise police, who intercepted a vehicle transporting liquor in Annamayya district a few days ago, seized the stocks and busted the spurious liquor racket. Later, they also raided the bottling unit at Ibrahimpatnam.