Zirakpur, June 19 -- Forty-one bottles of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) were recovered from a mattress shop in Baltana, in a joint operation by the excise department and the local police on Wednesday.

According to officials, the liquor was illegally stored at the premises and was reportedly smuggled from Chandigarh and concealed within mattresses to evade detection.

Acting on a tip-off, the team conducted a raid at Sethi Mattress Store, located in Golden State, Baltana. Excise inspector Gurpreet Singh, who led the operation, said the raid was part of a larger crackdown on illicit liquor smuggling, carried out under instructions from senior officials.

During the search, authorities recovered 17 bottles of Royal Stag and 24 bottles o...