Over 2 lakh liquor bottles, 972 kg narcotic substances seized during lockdown: Haryana police

Police have seized over 972 kg narcotic substances and more than 2.04 lakh bottles of liquor, either illicit or being transported illegally, in the Hisar Range during the lockdown period.

Nearly 972 kg narcotic substances and over two lakh bottles of liquor were seized from different parts of Haryana during the lockdown period, police said here on Wednesday.

Haryana Police personnel screen commuters for identity cards and permits at the Delhi-Gurugram Border, near Ambience Mall, during lockdown in the wake of coronavirus, at Sirhaul toll plaza, in Gurugram, India, on Tuesday, 12 May 2020. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Five wanted and 48 other criminals were arrested from the Hisar Range during this time, they added.

The Hisar Range comprises Hisar, Jind, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hansi police districts.

Police have seized over 972 kg narcotic substances and more than 2.04 lakh bottles of liquor, either illicit or being transported illegally, in the Hisar Range during the lockdown period, Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Yadava said in a statement here.

During the lockdown, all field units were directed to step up vigil, he said.

Since the lockdown came into effect, police have intensified patrolling, while ensuring strict adherence to restrictions, to ensure the safety of citizens which yielded fruitful results, Yadava said.

“A most-wanted criminal each have been apprehended from Hisar, Hansi and Jind districts while two were caught from Sirsa district. The other 48 involved in various heinous crimes included 16 from Hisar, eight in Hansi, nine in Jind, 13 in Sirsa and two in Fatehabad,” he added.

“We have also nabbed 261 people on charges of possessing narcotic substances by registering 151 cases,” the DGP said. He said the narcotic substances seized include over nine kg heroin, more than three kg opium, nearly 115 kg opium plants, around 745 kg poppy husk, over 97 kg ganja/charas, a little over nine gram smack and 7,220 capsules, 21,185 restricted tablets and 90 syrup bottles.

Police had also launched an intensive crackdown on bootleggers and arrested 817 people for their involvement in illegal transportation or sale of liquor by registering 650 cases in five districts of Hisar Range under the Excise Act, the top cop said. After the lockdown was imposed, police seized 39,712 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, 59,315 bottles of countrymade liquor, 1,00,494 bottles of beer, 5,174 bottles of illicit liquor and 31,878 litres of lahan (raw material for producing illicit liquor), he said. “Amid the lockdown, our teams are constantly making efforts to check the crime rate as well as to track and arrest the most-wanted and other notorious criminals,” Yadava added.