A woman Sarpanch, identified as Savita Devi, has been arrested from Bihar's Muzaffarpur district for allegedly operating in the liquor trade, police on Tuesday.
According to the police, the Sarpanch was running the trade from her residence. Police recovered Rs seven lakh cash from her house. Her husband Umesh Saini was reported to be absconding.
Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Jayant Kant said on the basis of a tip off, the Karja and Saraiya police in Barkagaon jointly carried out raids at Savita Devi's residence and three different houses in the village where a large quantity of liquor was recovered.
Karja police station in-charge Saroj Kumar said an FIR was lodged in the case on Monday in which Savita Devi, her husband Umesh Sahni, Chandeshwar Sahni and Saraswati Kunwar, among others, have been identified as the accused.
Sarpanch confesses
Kumar said 11 cartons, which includes overall 99 litres of foreign liquor and 70 litres of country-made liquor, were recovered from Umesh Saini's house during the police raid. More than Rs seven lakh cash was recovered from a bag hidden in the room of the accused Savita Devi.
The police claimed that during the interrogation, the Sarpanch confessed that the cash money was used for the alleged purchasing and selling of the liquor.
Chandeshwar Sahni, Saraswati Kunwar and Umesh Sahni were reported to be absconding. The police were conducting raids to arrest all the absconding accused.
This incident comes as a shock since there is a blanket ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar.
