•Pune State Excise Department busted a notorious gang smuggling cheap liquor from Goa, bottling it as branded alcohol.
•The operation involved a cinematic chase in Kandalgaon, Indapur taluka, leading to arrests and seizures.
•Smugglers used plastic drums to transport raw liquor, then filled empty branded bottles (Royal Stag, Imperial Blue) with counterfeit corks.
•Police seized 25 plastic drums of liquor and 1,400 counterfeit corks from a cargo vehicle; arrested Prem Somnath Bhadwalkar and Akshay Adhikrao Deshmukh.
•Raids in Solapur and Satara districts uncovered more foreign liquor, empty bottles, and 2,000 counterfeit corks, with total seizures worth Rs 20.53 lakh.
