Conducting a search operation on the banks of Sutlej river to stop illegal liquor distillation, the excise department recovered and destroyed around 1.05 lakh litre of lahan on Monday.
The lahan, stored in pits on the banks of the river, was recovered during a search operation that commenced at 8.30 am and was carried out over a stretch of around 15 km in Kot Umra village, Vehra, Gorsian bet, Akuwal.
The operation was jointly carried out by teams from Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Apart from lahan, the teams also confiscated iron drums, utensils and 300 kg of wood and plastic pipes from the spot.
The raids were conducted by excise officer Dewan Chand Amit Goyal, excise inspectors (EI) Karamjit Singh Cheema, Hardip Singh Bains, Rajan Sehgal of Jalandhar range, alongwith excise police and support staff.
The searches were conducted on the direction of deputy commissioner (Excise, Patiala zone) Paramjit Singh and were supervised by assistant commissioner (Ludhiana West) Harsimrat Grewal, assistant commissioners of Jalandhar 1 and 2 Hanuwant Singh and Sukhwinder Singh respectively.
The officials said starting from the month of July this year, the excise department has destroyed around 11 lakh litre of lahan in different parts of the state. Search operations are conducted to stop illegal liquor distillation.