Varanasi: Fugitive codeine cough syrup smuggling kingpin Shubham Jaiswal’s liquor empire took a hit as police and excise officials seized four shops linked to his syndicate late Saturday.In a joint action of the police and excise department, four liquor shops licensed in the names of women associated with Shubham were seized. The guarantee money of two shops, including one in the name of Shubham’s wife, was also forfeited.Investigation has exposed six liquor shops of Shubham’s syndicate. Profit from these liquor shops is sent to Shubham through hawala.Kotwali police station inspector Daya Shankar Singh said that all documents and records of liquor shops allotted to the syndicate members were scanned by the joint team on Saturday evening. After completing the investigation, the composite shops of Lehartara, licensed in the name of Shivangi Jaiswal; Paredkothi, licensed in the name of Babita Singh; Kazzakpura, licensed in the name of Usha Devi; and Khojwa, licensed to Radhika Jaiswal, were sealed.The guarantee money of the Madhopur (Shastrinagar) composite shop, licensed in the name of Shubham’s wife Vaishali Pursvani, and Shahabad shop licensed in the name of Rekha Devi was also forfeited.The licences of shops taken over by Shubham’s syndicate in the names of women were found to be in violation, prompting police and excise officials to submit a report to the district magistrate. The DM has ordered the suspension of licences and issued show-cause notices to four shopsShubham’s jailed hawala trade manager Vaibhav Jaiswal’s mother, Radhika and wife Shivangi of Navapura, and Usha Devi of Bhardwaji Tola, Rekha Devi and Babita Singh of Kayasth Tola were arrested on Apr 7, but the court released them due to insufficient evidence.The women were flagged by the police for alleged collusion in a hawala business. Investigation revealed Shubham and his jailed father Bhola Prasad were laundering black money from cough syrup sales through liquor shops in women’s names, obtained via lottery. Vaibhav allegedly transferred shop income to Shubham via hawala.Investigating bank statements and documents, Kotwali police and SIT uncovered Shubham’s syndicate involvement in the liquor trade. He formed an association with others to control profits from 6 English liquor shops and incorporated people from various trades to expand his business.
