Ranga Reddy Excise Enforcement officials have busted a major liquor adulteration racket in Hyderabad, where a gang was mixing cheap liquor with water and selling it as premium imported alcohol. The operation primarily targeted software employees in the Kondapur area, offering them expensive brands at suspiciously low prices. The accused collected empty bottles of high-end liquor from elite parties, refilled them with adulterated cheap alcohol, and sold them at discounted rates to unsuspecting customers.
The scale of the fraud became evident when officials seized liquor worth over ₹3 lakh during the raid. Among the counterfeit products, bottles of Royal Salute, which typically retail for ₹25,100, were being sold for as low as ₹8,000 after adulteration. Several other premium brands were also duplicated using the same method, where cheap liquor was mixed with water and repackaged in authentic-looking bottles to deceive buyers looking for bargain deals on expensive alcohol.
Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the racket, including a software employee from Attapur. The accused have been handed over to Kondapur Excise Police for further investigation and legal proceedings. The arrests came after a detailed investigation by the Excise Enforcement team, which tracked the distribution network operating in the tech corridors of Cyberabad.
The modus operandi involved sourcing empty bottles of expensive imported liquor from high-end parties and gatherings where premium alcohol is consumed. The gang would then carefully refill these bottles with a mixture of cheap local liquor and water, seal them to appear authentic, and sell them through word-of-mouth networks primarily targeting young professionals in the IT sector who were looking for deals on premium alcohol brands.
Excise officials have issued a public warning urging consumers not to purchase costly liquor at unusually low prices from unauthorized sources. They emphasized that such deals are likely to be counterfeit products that pose serious health risks due to adulteration. The officials advised people to buy alcohol only from licensed outlets and to verify the authenticity of seals and packaging before making purchases.
