BELAGAVI: Five excise department personnel, including three of the officer rank, were suspended in Belagavi on Saturday after a departmental inquiry found that they had allegedly spirited away liquor boxes that were seized during an operation earlier this month.
As the Assembly elections are nearing, the excise and police departments have stepped up vigil along the borders connecting Goa and Maharashtra to prevent illegal transportation of money and liquor.
On March 7 evening, the flying squad of the excise department confiscated a van carrying 753 boxes of foreign liquor worth Rs 47 lakh near Modekoppa village in Khanapur taluk. The seized liquor and vehicle were brought to the excise office at Khanapur. But the very next day, 301 boxes went missing. This forced senior excise officials to order an inquiry, which revealed that department officers and staff were allegedly involved in the theft.
The department has now ordered the suspension of Excise Inspectors Davalsaba Sindogi and Sadashiv Korti, as well as Excise Deputy Inspector Pushpa Gadadi. An FIR has also been registered against them.