PATIALA: A day after the excise department busted an illegal liquor bottling unit and seized 20,000 litres of extra neutral alcohol (ENA), holograms, bottles and labels of country-made brands at Rajpura in Patiala district, the station house officer of Rajpura City was suspended for laxity. Notices have been issued to SP (D), DSP Rajpura, DSP (D) and CIA in-charge.
After the recent hooch tragedy that claimed the lives of 112 person in the state, the police is now investigating to find out if the illegal liquor from this bottling unit was supplied to any wine shops or other places in Punjab.
The excise officials claimed that illegal factory in Rajpura seemed to have established around two months ago and the modus operandi of the accused was to pilfer the ENA from tankers and then mix water in ENA-loaded tankers. They added that the pilfered ENA was then mixed with some essence and water to further fill it in bottles at the illegal unit and supply it to liquor smugglers.
Punjab financial commissioner (tax) A Venu Prasad said the policy of ‘zero tolerance’ adopted by the Punjab government towards the trade of counterfeit and illicit liquor was being strictly followed. He revealed that under ‘Operation Red Rose’ against illicit liquor trade in the state, the excise revenue had increased by 29% over the previous year.
He added, “Due to the increase in the sale of liquor, the excise department has, for the first time, increased the quota of liquor by 15% that resulted in increase of revenue of Rs 785 crore. We had already roped in stringent measures like installation of GPRS on transporting vehicles that used to carry ENA to check the pilferage more minutely. Rajpura and Shambhu areas were adjacent to Haryana and such a factory may have been set up near the National Highway due to strictures on transportation of ENA. The matter is being investigated and it would be ascertained where the liquor was supplied”.
Excise Commissioner, Rajat Agarwal appealed to the people of Punjab to immediately report the illicit trade of liquor on the helpline number 98759-61126 of the excise department and said the factory has also been unearthed on the basis of confidential information. “Action is being taken across the state and crack down on such illicit liquor manufacturers and bootleggers in Tarn Taran, Beas, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar. So far about 13,000 cases have been registered and 11,000 persons arrested.” he added.