TIRUPATTUR: A joint operation by prohibition wing police and staff of the Umarabad police station near Ambur resulted in the seizure of liquor bottles being smuggled from Karnataka on Sunday evening.

Following a tip-off that liquor was being smuggled from Karnataka, police received information about a car carrying liquor bottles that escaped the dragnet at Athipalli near Hosur and was on its way to Vaniyambadi.

Police lay in wait for the vehicle at the Nekkundi toll plaza near Vaniyambadi. However, the car on seeing the cops escaped and managed to lead the cops to a 20 kilometres chase before they could stop the vehicle in the Kothur forest area near Ambur.

The three occupants of the car escaped and an inspection revealed 3,840 bottles of liquor packed in 40 boxes estimated to be worth Rs 2 lakh, inside the vehicle.

Both the contraband and the car were seized by the prohibition police who registered a case and are on the hunt for the culprits.