JAJPUR: Desperate times call for desperate measures, even for tipplers and bootleggers. Excise officials on Wednesday seized over 40 litre of foreign liquor worth `4 lakh from a vegetable-laden van in Jajpur and arrested the driver of the vehicle. He was identified as Diptiranjan Rout of Binjharpur. Rout had procured the liquor from West Bengal, where restrictions on sale of alcohol have been lifted, and planned to sell it in Jajpur.
Sources said the pick-up van reached Jajpur vegetable market arrived from West Bengal on Wednesday morning. While unloading the vegetables, vendors stumbled upon the liquor bottles kept hidden under the sacks. A vegetable vender informed the local Excise officials following which a team reached the spot and seized both the liquor and the vehicle. Vegetables from neighbouring West Bengal are imported to Jajpur district regularly.