Fake Liquor Labels, Holograms Seized In Kushaiguda

The Telangana Excise Task Force today busted a racket manufacturing counterfeit liquor brand labels and duplicate HEALs (Holographic Excise Adhesive Labels) at Kushaiguda in Malkajgiri division.

Officials seized a flexo printing machine, printing plates of top liquor brands (including Royal Stag, AC Black and Old Admiral), 31,900 liquor pouches and thousands of fake holographic labels.

Two persons - Gaddameedi Prakash and Nenavath Rajesh - were arrested. The kingpin, Naveen Goud, is already in custody in connection with the Huzurnagar spurious liquor case.

The accused had been supplying fake liquor packaging material to networks across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, enabling large-scale circulation of spurious liquor.

The counterfeit HEALs were designed to closely resemble genuine excise labels, making it difficult for both vendors and consumers to detect the fakes. The racket thus posed a serious risk to public health and caused significant revenue loss to the government, officials said.

Authorities are also investigating the supply chain, and suspect that more individuals and printing units may be linked to the racket.

Excise officials said that strict action would be taken under the Excise Act against those involved in the manufacture, sale or distribution of spurious liquor.

The raids were carried out under the supervision of Excise Commissioner Harikiran, Director of Enforcement Shawnawaz Khasim, Joint Commissioner Qureshi and Assistant Commissioner P Pranavi.