The Joda police on Friday arrested and court-forwarded two persons for selling liquor illegally and seized 24 bottles of beer, 44 bottles of foreign liquor and a motorbike from them.
The arrested were identified as Rajendra Kumar Behera and Right Kumar Maria.
While sale of liquor within 500 metre of NH and SH has been banned since April 1 on the Supreme Court direction, some traders, taking advantage of less number of shops and demand from consumers, are busy in selling foreign liquor in the town and nearby rural areas while excise officials have remained as silent spectators, according to locals.
Acting on a tipoff, a team of police led by IIC Sunset Soren raided a liquor shop and arrested the two. The two had been carrying liquor on a motorbike and selling them in rural areas on the outskirts of Joda town.