Patna, Mar 4 (IANS): The liquor prohibition department of Bihar arrested two inter-state liquor smugglers from Jharkhand's Kodarma district, a senior official said.

The accused, Surmukh Singh Dariwal and Neeraj Kumar alias Senty, are natives of Ambala city in Haryana. They were involved in liquor smuggling for the last 3 years.

"Both the accused used to smuggle liquor consignments generally in a truck and transaction of funds was done through Hawala," said Amrit Raj, Inspector General of Police of the liquor prohibition department.

According to an official, the prohibition department has arrested a number of alleged smugglers from Haryana and Punjab in recent times. These accused revealed the possible locations and identification of Surmukh and Neeraj.

"During preliminary investigation it was learnt that Neeraj Kumar came in contact with Dhariwal through the latter's son Pushpendra Singh Dhariwal. Pushpendra and Neeraj are close friends. The trio have an illegal liquor smuggling syndicate in North Bihar. The father-son duo are one of the prominent liquor traders in Haryana and are also involved in smuggling Haryana made liquor to Punjab and Gujarat apart from Bihar," the official said.

Besides trucks, the accused also purchased SUVs and other large vehicles in auctions in West Bengal and Jharkhand with the aim to use them for smuggling. Being a neighbouring state, the vehicles from these two states can frequently be seen in Bihar.

"Dhariwal and Neeraj have become notorious in Bihar for liquor smuggling. There are six FIRs under liquor prohibition acts and IPC sections of 272, 273, and 290 registered in Manjhi police station in Saran, Simri in Darbhanga, Pipra in Motihari, Nadi in Patna and two cases registered in Muzaffarpur's Brahampur and Paru police stations," he said.

"The liquor prohibition department has also seized Rs 2.82 lakh cash, 9 mobile phones, one Innova car and some documents from their possession," the officer added.