Tirupati: A huge consignment of illegally smuggled liquor from Karnataka was seized by Narayanavanam police in Nagari constituency late on Thursday, the very day nomination process for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections kicked off in the state. Acting on a tip-off, a police team led by sub-inspector D. Lakshmi Narayana intercepted an auto-rickshaw transporting 43 cases of Karnataka-made liquor near Govindapalem on Puttur bypass road during a raid conducted late on Thursday night.
Upon interrogating, they received information about a large liquor dump stashed in a godown close to a private degree college in Puttur. The subsequent raid at the premises led to the seizure of 286 liquor cases of 180ml, containing a total of 13,728 bottles, valued at over Rs 17 lakh in the state's grey market. Three persons – M. Subramanyam Thirunavukkarasu (42), V. Leela Krishna (25), and Krishnamurthy Siva (42) – were arrested by Narayanavanam police during the raid. SI Lakshmi Narayana said efforts were on to nab another accused in the case, C.S. Dileep. Opposition parties have cried foul, alleging that the ruling YSRC party leaders had smuggled the liquor from Karnataka to distribute among the party workers and locals during tourism minister R.K. Roja's nomination rally in Puttur on Friday. YSRC leaders vehemently denied any links to the illicit liquor haul.
