The UP Excise Department late on Friday night busted a smuggling racket in a rural area of the state capital that was using fake QR codes to distribute illegal foreign liquor in Lucknow. The officials seized 135 bottles of illegal foreign liquor with forged QR codes and arrested one person in connection with the case.
Acting under the ongoing special enforcement drive ordered by the excise commissioner, Uttar Pradesh, the excise team carried out a raid in village Rusena on February 21. During the operation, officials recovered 109 quarter bottles and 26 half-bottles — a total of 135 bottles amounting to 29.37 bulk litres of illicit foreign liquor.
The raid was carried out under the supervision of the joint excise commissioner, Lucknow Zone, and the deputy excise commissioner, Lucknow (in-charge), with the district excise officer heading the district-level operation.
Lucknow district excise officer Karunendra Singh confirmed that the seized bottles carried forged QR codes, allegedly intended to mislead enforcement agencies and customers by presenting the liquor as legally sourced.
The use of forged QR codes has become a recurring tactic among liquor smugglers in Lucknow. The QR-based tracking mechanism was introduced to enhance transparency in the supply chains and enable consumers and officials to verify the authenticity of bottles. However, enforcement authorities acknowledge that smugglers are now trying to duplicate or tamper with these codes to evade checks and circulate illegal stock in the market.
The excise team arrested the accused, identified as Ranjeet Yadav, from the spot. A case has been registered against him at Rahimabad police station under the relevant sections of the Excise Act. Officials said they are now investigating the supply chain to trace the origin of the fake-labelled liquor and identify other possible links in the network.
The enforcement team included Excise Inspectors Akhilesh Kumar (Area-2), Vivek Singh (Sector-5), Vijay Rathi (Sector-9), among others. Officials said the department will step up surveillance and verification of QR codes at retail outlets and in rural pockets to prevent further misuse of the digital tracking system in the state capital.