Two employees of a pub situated in Garden Galleria, Noida, found themselves in police custody following their arrest by the Gautam Buddha Nagar Excise Department. Their crime? Selling budget liquor in high-end bottles.
In a joint operation involving the Gautam Buddha Excise Department and the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police, a raid was conducted at Clinique Pub, located within the premises of Gardens Galleria Mall in Noida's Sector 38A.
The raid unearthed a rather deceitful practice - the pub was deceptively packaging and selling inexpensive liquor in premium bottles to its unsuspecting customers.
District Excise Officer Subodh Kumar Srivastava, in a statement, confirmed the immediate arrest of two pub staff members at the scene. Furthermore, Srivastava announced that the authorities had initiated the process to suspend the pub's liquor license.
Upon the raid on the pub, which took place on Wednesday, the Excise Department and the Police discovered a substantial stockpile of evidence: 293 bottles of foreign liquor and a total of 395 beer cans hidden in the pub's storage.
In addition to apprehending two pub staff members, namely Mahesh Kumar from Rae Bareilly and Mohammad Nawaz from Dinajpur, West Bengal, the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police has also issued a show cause notice to the pub.
Further intensifying their efforts, the police have lodged an FIR against two additional suspects, Sajjad and Akhtar, both of whom are presently evading arrest.