HP excise dept continues crackdown against illegal liquor mafia
HP tax commissioner Yunus Khan said the department had recently exposed a unit supplying illegal spirits in Sirmaur
Continuing its crackdown against illegal liquor traders, the Himachal Pradesh excise and taxation department has so far seized 1,189 liters of alcohol, 532 bulk liters of denatured spirit and 19 drums besides 29 boxes of illicit liquor. The department has also collected a fine of ₹ 1.7 lakh from the offenders.
State tax commissioner Yunus Khan said the department had recently exposed a unit supplying illegal spirits in Sirmaur. In the last two days, 15 cases related to illicit liquor have been registered in the state, he added.
During raids conducted across HP, 20 boxes of countrymade liquor, eight boxes of English liquor and one box of beer along with 17,700ml of illicit liquor were recovered.
Khan said the department was also inspecting all authorised licensed vendors and manufacturers’ premises. The team of south zone flying squad investigated the factories and caught seven cases of irregularities. During the inspection in Kala Amb, 19 drums of alcohol have been caught, out of which 580 bulk liters of excise product was found in five drums.
Khan said 149 bulk liters of alcohol in excess and shortage of 692 bulk liters of alcohol was found in the same factory. The team also inspected six companies manufacturing spirit products in Baddi and Kala Amb.
A total of 532 bulk liters of denatured spirit was found in excess in the stock of two companies during the checking, he said, adding that in another case 460 bulk liters of alcohol stock excess was found. He said further action under the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act was going on in all these seven cases.
He said if any licensee is found involved in any kind of suspicious activities, then his licence would be cancelled and action will be taken as per the Excise Act.
