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Over 200,000 bottles crushed in Gurugram’s ‘break the neck’ campaign to stop liquor swindle
Authorities have destroyed 200,000 empty liquor bottles in the week leading up to Diwali to crack down on the illegal rebottling and sale of fake premium alcohol. The campaign was launched after an expose by HT revealed a network of fraudsters pouring cheap whiskey into used high-end bottles and selling them as genuine. Special teams have been formed to tackle the counterfeit liquor business, and a campaign called "Break the Neck" has been launched to ensure all empty bottles are destroyed. Over 1,000 samples from liquor shops, pubs, bars, and restaurants have been sent for testing.
Authorities have smashed 200,000 empty bottles of liquor in a week leading up to Diwali as part of a campaign to check the flourishing business of rebottling and sale of fake premium alcohol after an expose by HT blew the lid off the illegal nexus, excise officials said on Friday.
HT reported on October 31 a booming racket in Millennium City where frauds buy used, high-end liquor bottles from scrap dealers, pour cheap whiskey using thick syringes, slap on a new label and a cap, seal it shut, and sell it to online vendors, shops, and bars. Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala took cognisance of the report and ordered that special teams be formed to crack down on the counterfeit liquor business in the state. The authorities also launched a campaign called “Break the Neck”, which made it mandatory for all watering holes (ahata) to break the bottle once empty and barred them from passing on empty bottles to scrap dealers or ragpickers.
Between November 3 and 10, more than 200,000 such bottles were destroyed, said officials.
Ravinder Singh, deputy commissioner of excise and taxation, Gurugram (east), said that they also deployed teams to conduct surprise checks.
“We are also maintaining the records of the bottles sold at the liquor vends adjacent to drinking places. We have given strict directions to all the licensees to ensure no bottle is sold for recycling else their licenses will be cancelled. All the ahatas are maintain records of the bottles sold for in-house drinking and no guests are allowed to carry out empty bottles,” he added.
Singh said that records are being maintained by the liquor vend staff and ahatas that is checked by the excise teams daily. “We are checking all the registers maintained by them and CCTV footage of the area. Over 200,000 bottles have been broken so far this month,” he said.
Naresh Kumar, joint commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) , said that civic teams are also checking the collection of bottles from residential areas. “Now any bottle that is being sent to MRF is crushed by the staff and no bootlegger or scrap dealer is allowed to enter any MRF centres,” he said.
The HT report trained the spotlight on a well-oiled nexus between scrap dealers, label makers, liquor shop owners, even bar managers, which ran the illicit business of putting cheap alcohol in premium alcohol bottles.
Excise officials said that all liquor vends are circulating the message on social media platforms to break the neck of the bottle and are asking customers to check the hologram on the bottle before buying anything to ensure authenticity. At least 1000 samples from over 60 liquor shops, 200 pubs, bars, and restaurants have been picked up by the excise department and sent to labs for testing, said Singh.
