NOIDA — Late one evening this week, excise officials in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida Sector 63 quietly moved in on a liquor shop suspected of illegal sales. Acting on a tip-off, the team entered Composite Shop No. 1 just as shutters were about to close. Inside, they found bottles of whisky that looked genuine — until closer inspection revealed otherwise.
Eight 750 ml bottles labeled as Ballantine’s, Black Label, Red Label, and Jameson were seized. The liquor appeared perfectly packaged, complete with caps and barcodes, yet each bottle carried a fake QR code. Officials say the whisky was adulterated — a dangerous imitation designed to pass for imported stock.
Two store workers, Kuldeep Singh and Rohtash Kumar, were caught behind the counter. Two others, Anshul Jaiswal and Deepak Kumar, managed to flee before the raid concluded. “The bottles were being pushed into black-market sales after 10 p.m.,” said District Excise Officer Subodh Kumar, who led the operation. “The team had only minutes to act.”
A case has been filed under the Excise Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The shop’s license has been suspended, and a show-cause notice issued to the license holder, who must explain how counterfeit stock entered the supply chain.
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Premium Brands, Counterfeit Bottles
The seizure sheds light on a growing and lucrative criminal ecosystem: the refilling and repackaging of premium liquor bottles. According to excise investigators, the counterfeit bottles recovered in Noida contained low-grade or country liquor mixed to imitate high-end whisky, then sealed in reused branded packaging.
“Preliminary findings suggest the state exchequer is losing significant revenue due to the sale of such adulterated liquor,” said an official involved in the probe. Investigators believe the fake stock was being supplied across multiple districts, including Lucknow, where a similar racket was uncovered in September.
Excise officials suspect a wider network that sources empty bottles from local bars, mixes cheap liquor with additives, and distributes the counterfeit blend through legitimate-looking retail outlets. “This is organized deception,” said a senior enforcement officer. “The branding looks perfect. Without lab verification, even a trained eye can be misled.”
The Economic and Public Health Toll
For the government, counterfeit liquor represents not only a public safety hazard but also a major financial leak. Uttar Pradesh’s excise revenue — among the state’s largest income sources — depends on the regulated sale of alcohol. Every counterfeit bottle, investigators note, represents lost tax revenue and public risk.
In May, excise officers in Dadri’s Sadhopur village seized dozens of bottles during a raid in which two men were arrested for mixing country liquor into foreign-brand bottles. Among the recovered stock were Imperial Blue, Royal Stag, and After Dark labels, along with dozens of empty branded bottles and country liquor tetra packs.
Experts warn that adulterated liquor can cause serious health complications, including liver damage and poisoning. “These refilled bottles often contain industrial-grade alcohol,” said a state forensic officer. “Because they carry original seals, customers don’t suspect a thing.”
A System on Alert
The Noida excise department has now floated a temporary tender to allow another vendor to operate the suspended shop until the inquiry concludes — a move intended to prevent loss of government revenue. But officials insist that enforcement will intensify.
“Our teams will continue surprise inspections,” DEO Kumar said. “Any attempt to sell fake or illicit liquor will attract cancellation of licenses and criminal prosecution.”
Coordination has begun with Lucknow’s excise wing to determine whether the counterfeit stock originated from the same suppliers. Investigators are also analyzing seized QR codes to trace how the fake tracking labels were printed and distributed.
Meanwhile, police are searching for the two absconding sellers, even as teams follow the supply chain backward — from bottle to bootlegger.
As one official put it, “The counterfeiters are getting smarter. But so are we. What looks like whisky in a glass may well be something far more dangerous.”
