New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) In the last one year, more than 1,43,000 litres of smuggled liquor has been seized by the Delhi excise department and 483 people have been arrested, officials said on Thursday, asserting that "intense" patrolling is being carried out at borders, especially in view of the upcoming festive and wedding seasons.

The excise department has in the last one year seized 2,819 litres of foreign liquor, 30,520 litres of IMFL and 1.10 lakh litres of country liquor, they added.

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The Excise Intelligence Bureau (EIB) of the department also seized 172 vehicles that were used to carry illicit liquor from neighbouring states to Delhi, said a senior official.

"In the past one year, the EIB wing of the excise department has seized 2,819 litres of foreign liquor, 30,520 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 1,10,473 litres of country liquor," the official said.

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He added that "479 cases were registered in connection with the smuggled liquor and 483 people arrested". The department's enforcement teams are maintaining "intense" patrolling at Delhi's borders, the official asserted.

The official said that a team, earlier this week, seized a huge quantity of liquor being smuggled into Delhi from neighbouring Haryana.

"On Monday night, the team received information about an SUV carrying illicit liquor from Haryana. During checking, a person, Ankish Shaw, was apprehended. A search of his SUV led to the seizure of 84 bottles of a premium whisky brand and beer cans," the official said.

He added that a case was registered at the Vasant Vihar police station in connection with the seizure.

The official said that in another operation led by a senior EIB officer, 24 premises were raided in South West Delhi's Humayunpur area and two cases registered after the seizure of a huge quantity of foreign liquor.

The excise department has intensified border patrolling in view of chances of increase smuggling of liquor as the festive and wedding seasons are about to begin, he said.

More than 10 teams have been deployed in and around border areas for patrolling and checking of persons and vehicles entering Delhi, the official added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)