Crackdown on illicit liquor in Ferozepur, more than 21 lakh ltrs illicit liquor recovered during 2020

Crackdown on illicit liquor in Ferozepur, more than 21 lakh ltrs illicit liquor recovered during 2020

Ferozepur, January 8, 2021: During the year 2020 from April to December, there had been a major crackdown on illicit liquor manufacturer and in as many as 492 raids were conducted jointly by the Excise and Police teams, in the enclaves of Sutlej and Mand areas of Harike Barrage, under the tutelage of Deputy Commissioner (Excise), J.S.Brar Ferozepur Zone and SSP, Ferozepur Bhupinder Singh, AC(Excise) Umesh Bhandari, Karambir Mahla ETO(X), a huge quantity of lahan, illicit liquor was recovered.

Divulging with the details, the excise officials said, a special driver against liquor smuggling, bootlegging, and illegal distilleries were started by constituting special teams and operations like Red Rose, in coordination with the police department.

From April to December 2020, there was a recovery of 20,76,357 ltrs lahan, 21,872 ltrs of illicit liquor, 15,414 bottles of illicit liquor, which was destroyed on the spot to avoid its misuse. However, 195 FIRs under the Excise Act were also registered on this account with total apprehension of 252. However, despite claiming to keep a strict vigil on illegal liquor trade continues unabated in the border villages of Ferozepur.

In fact, both these departments had been up in arms after the tragedy at Amritsar and Tarn Taran taking more than a hundred lives and with the recovery of a huge quantity of illicit liquor, such incidents have been avoided. The most illegal production cases are in rural areas due to shortage and costlier availability of liquor during the lockdown which has seen a spike in smuggling, as well as recovery and most of the recoveries, have been made during the special drives.

The conducting of raids against unscrupulous persons doing the business of extracting illegal liquor will be a regular feature, said the excise and police officials.