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Illicit liquor bottling plant unearthed in Patiala village, 3 held
Bottling plant machinery, 16,000 liquor bottles, 41,000 labels of country made liquor meant for sale in Chandigarh only, 10,000 lids and seal dispensers, 80 litres of flavour, labels of different brands and boxes have been recovered from the spot
Patiala
Police have unearthed an illicit liquor bottling plant and at Chaura village in Patiala district on Tuesday.
Bottling plant machinery, 16,000 liquor bottles, 41,000 labels of country made liquor meant for sale in Chandigarh only, 10,000 lids and seal dispensers, 80 litres of flavour, labels of different brands and boxes have been recovered from the spot.
Police said Salwinder Singh, 29, Hardeep Kumar, 37, and Hanish Kumar, 21, have been arrested and their Toyota Fortuner SUV has been impounded. Two of their accomplices Attinderpal Singh and Vishal Vihari are yet to be arrested.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Garg said the accused used to smuggle liquor from parts of Chandigarh and Haryana and sell it in Punjab after mixing it with extra neutral alcohol (ENA) and flavours.
“The accused confessed that they set up the bottling plant at Jhil village of the district in March 2020 after purchasing machinery from Delhi. Later, they shifted it to Ghanaur and then to Chaura village. The accused made huge profits by selling adulterated liquor after smuggling it from neighbouring states,” the SSP said.
A case under Sections 420 (cheating), 465 (for making forged documents), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the IPC and other sections of the Excise Act has been registered.
