Himachal excise department cracks down on liquor mafia, 750 boxes seized

Himachal excise commissioner Yunus said that the department has intensified crackdown on the liquor mafia across the state to prevent illegal selling of liquor. Under the campaign, teams formed from different areas are taking action at different places

The state taxes and excise department has seized 750 boxes of illegal liquor in recent days across the state under a special drive, an official said on Sunday.

The Himachal taxes and excise department has seized 750 boxes of illegal liquor in recent days across the state under a special drive, an official said on Sunday. (Representational image)

State excise commissioner Yunus said that the department has intensified crackdown on the liquor mafia across the state to prevent illegal selling of liquor. Under the campaign, teams formed from different areas are taking action at different places, while a special team of the department has also cracked down on illegal liquor traders in the entire state.

He said that departmental teams raided different places in district Bilaspur on a tip off and seized around 408 cases of English and country liquor. He said that in this action, 20 cases were registered under Section 43 and one case under Section 39 of the Excise Act 2011. The department has also registered an FIR in the case registered under Section 39 in Police Station Jhandutta, Bilaspur. In this case, the team seized 210 boxes of English and country liquor kept in an illegal godown and handed them over to the police.

The excise commissioner said that in the crackdown on illegal liquor, about 750 cases of illegal liquor have been seized by the teams of all districts in 196 different cases. Apart from this, 47,087 liters of lahan was also seized and destroyed. Lahan is a raw material used for manufacturing country liquor.

“Instructions have been given to all the districts to take stringent action against the sale and transportation of illegal liquor,” said the commissioner. He also requested the general public to bring any issue related to illegal liquor to the attention of the department as soon as it comes to the notice. He also informed that the work of the excise department has been made online, under which all types of licenses, permits and passes are being issued online. This will ensure more transparency in the work of the department, he added.