A special operations group of the excise department and Punjab Police foiled two attempts to smuggle liquor into Punjab from Chandigarh over the last two days, officials said on Saturday.
A spokesperson said that a special drive had been initiated to crackdown on smuggling of liquor into the state under the leadership of Punjab excise commissioner Varun Roojam and Fatehgarh Sahib senior superintendent of police Dr Ravjot Grewal.
In the first case, Sukhdev Singh of Koom Kalan village, was arrested with 115 liquor cases, comprising 1,380 bottles, meant for sale only in Chandigarh near Khamanon. The accused said he had smuggled illegal liquor into Punjab several times and supplied it to bootleggers in Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana.
In the second case, two men – Deepak and Sunil Singh – were arrested with 101 cases, comprising 1,212 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) of three different brands of liquor near the Sanghol–Khamano area of Fatehgarh sahib. The liquor was from different bottling plants of Chandigarh.
Roojam said, “The excise department has been following a zero-tolerance policy pertaining to liquor smuggling or other activities causing a loss to the state exchequer. We are probing the entire chain of forward and backward linkages to trace the main suppliers and recipients. If any liquor contractor is found involved in the racket, strict action will be initiated against him.”
{{/usCountry}}Roojam said, “The excise department has been following a zero-tolerance policy pertaining to liquor smuggling or other activities causing a loss to the state exchequer. We are probing the entire chain of forward and backward linkages to trace the main suppliers and recipients. If any liquor contractor is found involved in the racket, strict action will be initiated against him.”
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