SIT formed to look into liquor sale during lockdown: Vij

Vij said that one IAS officer from among Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Kaushal and TC Gupta along with IPS officer, Subhash Yadav and additional excise commissioner, Vijay Singh would jointly investigate the matter.

Haryana home minister Anil Vij on Friday said that a three-member special investigating team (SIT) has been constituted under the leadership of a senior IAS officer to investigate all cases regarding the sale of illicit liquor in the entire state, including Kharkhoda in Sonepat district, during the lockdown period and this SIT will submit its report within a month.

As many as 5,000 boxes of liquor are missing from Kharkhoda godown. (Bloomberg)

An official release said that an additional director general of police and additional excise and taxation commissioner will be members of this investigation team. Vij said that one IAS officer from among Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Kaushal and TC Gupta along with IPS officer, Subhash Yadav and additional excise commissioner, Vijay Singh would jointly investigate the matter.

He said that so far, no FIR has been registered by the excise department for theft of liquor. The police will investigate only after an FIR has been registered, he added. He said that the owner of Kharkoda godown was known to have been involved in illegal liquor sales earlier too. As many as 5,000 boxes of liquor are missing from Kharkhoda godown.

ON NRIs RETURN

In response to a query about Haryana NRIs living abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic, the home minister said that about 5,000 NRIs of Haryana have registered on the webportal for return. He said that after reaching Delhi Airport, the NRIs would be kept in institutional quarantine near Gurugram and later be quarantined in their home districts. They will not be allowed to self-quarantine in their homes, he added.

On the arrangements being made by the Haryana government to send migrant labourers to their home states, Vij said that as soon as no-objection certificates are received from the home states of migrant labourers, they would be sent home with all precautionary measures. So far, one lakh labourers have registered for their return.