Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: In a major crackdown ahead of the New Year, excise officials on Monday busted a fake foreign liquor manufacturing unit at Bondaguda village under Kotpad police station limits in Koraput district. During the raid, spurious liquor and bottling materials worth around ₹20 lakh were seized, officials said.

The prime accused, identified as Amit Gupta and Pankaj Gupta of Malchamal village along the Odisha–Chhattisgarh border, managed to flee before the raid. Both are brothers and natives of Chhattisgarh, and efforts are underway to trace and arrest them.

The operation was carried out as part of a special drive launched on the directions of Excise Commissioner P. Anvesha Reddy to curb the manufacture and circulation of duplicate foreign liquor during the festive season. Acting on a specific tip-off, a team from the Jeypore excise range reached the suspected premises at Bondaguda.

According to Jeypore Range Inspector of Excise Sashikanta Data, the premises were found locked. After following due legal procedures and obtaining permission from the Executive Magistrate, officials conducted a thorough search of the house and adjoining structures.

During the raid, officials seized 18,420 bottles of fake foreign liquor of various brands, amounting to 1,545.36 litres. In addition, they recovered thousands of excise adhesive labels, corks and company stickers, along with caramel, spirit, flavour essences, a sealing machine and other materials used for illegal bottling and labelling. Further investigation is in progress.

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