Friday, 23 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

Police on Thursday arrested six Nepalese men on charges of bootlegging on the Char Dham Route in Rudraprayag district. The police have claimed to have arrested 47 accused in the past two months with a total of 1,029 bottles of liquor worth about Rs seven lakh since the Yatra to Kedarnath started in the district. The Rudraprayag superintendent of police Vishakha Ashok Bhadane said that thousands of pilgrims arrive in Kedarnath Temple on a daily basis and the police are alert about the smuggling of alcohol and drugs during this period, especially on the Yatra route.

She said that regular intensive checking campaigns are also being conducted in the Bhiri, Kakdagad, Kund and Chopta areas located under the Ukhimath Police Station area of the district. During one such checking, the police team recovered a total of 78 bottles of liquor of various brands from the possession of six Nepalese men. They were reportedly carrying the bottles in their satchel bags. She said that the police arrested them and registered a case against them under relevant sections of the Excise Act at the Ukhimath police station. It was revealed in the preliminary questioning that all the six accused operated horses and mules besides working as labourers in the Sonprayag and Gaurikund areas of the district during the Char Dham Yatra period.