"We have seized as much as 27,253 litres of illicit liquor from some 250 hooch brewing units during the state-wide 24-hour campaign launched between Feb 27 and 28," Brij Lal, Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), told reporters.

This was besides 1,100 kg of marijuana (ganja), and 255 kg of hashis (charas) as well as 255 tablets of tranquiliser tablets that were seized, the police chief announced.

Firearms recovered

Simultaneous raids carried out across the state also yielded "illegally stored" 3,344 litres of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and 106 litres of beer. In addition, 15 country-made pistols along with substantial ammunition were also recovered during the course of the raids.

This followed multiple deaths due to consumption of hooch in Ghaziabad, and Varanasi last month.

"Taking very serious note of the deaths in Varanasi and Ghaziabad, we decided to go all out to crush this illicit liquor sale in the state; now such a campaign will be undertaken at frequent intervals so that we can bring an end to this clandestine business," Lal added.