Kushinagar: The illegal liquor bottles kept hidden in the kitchen of the primary school.
A huge stock of illegal liquor was seized from a primary school in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, police said. The seizure in Kushinagar, near Bihar border, points to a larger illegal liquor trade, and assumes significance as liquor sale in banned in Bihar.
The illegal liquor bottles, kept hidden in the kitchen of the primary school in Mohan Basdila village, was spotted by a student who alerted others. Informed by the locals, the police reached the school and seized the bottles.
The kitchen was locked and its keys were with the village head, so no one knew what's kept there, said Zahira Bano, a teacher.
"The police recovered 51 boxes carrying liquor bottles. Excise officials were called to the spot for investigation," said Additional Superintendent of Police Ritesh Kumar Singh.
Stringent checks in Bihar have turned the smugglers extra-cautious. They now avoid transporting their stocks directly into Bihar and keep them near the state border and look for opportunities to smuggle them into the dry state, police said.
The liquor mafia have been using different unique smuggling techniques since liquor ban was implemented in Bihar in 2016 - from transporting them in ambulances to hiding them in medicine boxes.