Ludhiana police recover 2 lakh litres of spurious liquor, 2 held

Police conducted a raid at a spot near the Sutlej riverbank following a tip-off and found the liquor hidden there and made the two arrests

In a major crackdown on illicit liquor manufacturers following the deaths of 86 persons in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Batala the Ludhiana police on Saturday recovered two lakh litres of lahan and 55 litres of other varieties of spurious liquor. Two men involved in the racket also arrested but six of their accomplices managed to escape.

File photo of the anti smuggling wing of the police destroying illicit country made liquor near Sutlej river in Ludhiana in June this year. (HT Photo)

Those arrested have been identified as Surjit Singh and Om Parkash of Villagr Rajapur and the others absconding are Gurcharan Singh, Soni, Paramjit Singh of Rajapur village, and Gurnam Singh, Balvir Singh and Jagir Singh of Bholewal Jadid village.

Lahan, a yellow coloured viscose is raw material for producing illicit liquor and has to be distilled on fire. It contains ethyl alcohol.

Assistant sub-inspector Satnam Singh said police acted on a tipoff and found the liquor hidden at a spot near the Sutlej riverbank.

A case under sections 61,1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been lodged against the accused at the Ladhowal police station.

Police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said the Ludhiana police had initiated a special drive against illicit liquor. All station house officers had been directed to immediately start operations to bust the racket in their areas within the next 24 hours.

All gazetted officers and SHOs would be held responsible if any such activity was reported in their areas

He said police had initiated a special drive against liquor smuggling on May 18, arresting 201 men involved in bootlegging in 270 cases.