GB Nagar launches crackdown on spurious liquor, smuggling of alcohol; 30 held

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar excise department, with the help of the district police, has launched a special drive to check for spurious liquor and to monitor illicit supply of alcohol in the district, officials said on Sunday

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar excise department, with the help of the district police, has launched a special drive to check for spurious liquor and to monitor illicit supply of alcohol in the district, officials said on Sunday. Over 30 bootleggers have been arrested in the district during the weekend, police said.

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The district excise department’s action comes after the Aligarh hooch tragedy in which more than 30 people have died last week allegedly after consuming adulterated liquor.

“In light of the Aligarh incident, teams from the excise, police and administration are conducting inspections at shops to check the current stock and verify the barcodes. The teams were active on Saturday and Sunday, and so far we have not found any issues of adulteration in the current stock,” said RB Singh, district excise officer.

Singh said that the department will run the drive till June 12 and conduct the regular checks at the 524 liquor shops in the district. “We also plan to take public feedback specially in rural belts about the local liquor supply. Movement of history sheeters and excise defaulters will also be monitored,” he said.

Meanwhile, the district police nabbed at least 30 bootleggers over the weekend for allegedly smuggling liquor bottles into the district.

Police said that most of these arrests were from the Greater Noida zone (areas under Jewar and Dadri police jurisdictions), followed by the Noida area (sectors 39 and 20 police jurisdictions). Most of these cases involve smuggling of alcohol from states like Haryana, police said, adding that several cartons of liquor have been seized so far.

“There are orders to ensure that illicit liquor is not in circulation in the district. Our teams are working constantly to monitor the situation,” said Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1.

Police also said that manufacturing of spurious liquor in the district is non-existent but smuggling is still an issue.