Sleuths of the Special Enforcement Bureau(SEB) seized illicit liquor worth ₹23 lakh with the arrest of eight offenders, including two supervisors in State-run stores, on Tuesday.
Using the decoy technique, a team of SEB sleuths nabbed the accused who had been transporting liquor from Goa through their accomplices there through tankers and stored them in godowns. Later the contraband was sold through State-run liquor shops in collusion with the supervisors working in them at Anantasagaram and Chilakalamarri after changing the stickers of liquor bottles to appear as if they were local ones, SPSR Nellore Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao told a media conference here.
Police were on the lookout for six others in connection with seizure of 17,808 bottles of smuggled liquor. The arrested were one 23-year-old Surendra and his accomplices Vijayabhaskara Reddy, Krishnakanth, Pawan Kumar and Subba Reddy. Two supervisors of state-run liquor shops, Suresh and Venkateswarlu, were also arrested.
Teams have been sent to Goa to nab the other accomplices of the arrested offenders, said SEB Joint Director K Srilakshmi. A car used by the offenders as also 260 liquor bottle stickers were also seized by SEB sleuths.
