Truck carrying smuggled liquor overturns in Azamgarh

A truck carrying liquor bottles to Bihar overturned on the Purvanchal expressway near Azamgarh on Saturday morning. The truck crashed through the expressway railing and fell about 20 feet into a ditch, according to police. Police officer Pradeep Mishra reported that the truck was hiding thousands of Indian-made liquor bottles. The truck had soil-filled gunny sacks in the front and back, with liquor bottles packed in the middle to avoid police detection at checkpoints. Around 1,000 liquor bottles spilled out when the truck overturned, and police recovered approximately 1,650 liters of liquor from the vehicle. The truck driver fled the scene after the crash. The truck was traveling from Barmer in Rajasthan and was part of a larger smuggling operation. It was transporting liquor from Punjab to Bihar, where alcohol is banned. Police noted that this route has been commonly used for liquor smuggling in the past. Authorities are aware of the smuggling pattern, as gangs often use trucks filled with low-value goods like soil or sand for cover. Police have recently intensified random checks on trucks along the expressway to combat liquor smuggling.