Drivers accused in most of 206 FIRs, mgmt spared

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 8

During fiscal 2019-20, the Haryana Police registered 206 cases of smuggling of liquor — Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) as well as country liquor — mentioning distilleries from where the consignments were sourced.

However, in none of the cases, distillery managements were made to join investigation, as drivers of the confiscated vehicles were named as accused.

The special enquiry team (SET), headed by IAS officer TC Gupta, constituted at Home Minister Anil Vij’s initiative, has highlighted how the police and excise departments have been going soft on distillery managements.

The SET has made special reference to NV Distilleries, Rajpura and Ambala, and RS Distillery, Karnal.

Of the 206 FIRs, the SET looked into action taken in 14 cases involving seizure of more than 100 cartons of liquor. While NV Distilleries figures in most of these FIRs, RS Distillery, owned by Punjab Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh’s family, figures in one registered in Kurukshetra. In a majority of cases, “Crazy Romeo”, “Blue Mood” and “Party Special”, IMFL brands of NV Distilleries, were seized.

On June 25, 2019, an FIR was registered at the Mullana police station of Ambala following the seizure of 1,800 cases of liquor originating from NV Distilleries, Ambala. The consignment was loaded onto the truck by supervisor Bhupinder. Similarly, on May 25, an FIR was registered at Kurukshetra in which the accused claimed to be the gunman of one of the directors of the distillery.

Similar FIRs were registered at Samalkha, Panipat and other districts involving seizure of 170 to 1,200 cases of liquor. But in none of the cases, distillery management was asked to join investigation, making drivers or other workers as accused.

Calls and messages to NV Distilleries vice president (sales and marketing) SK Sinha for comment went unanswered. Rana’s son Rana Inder Pratap Singh, who looks after RS Distillery, said the FIR was registered against the truck driver ferrying the consignment. The excise department found the consignment documents in order, he added.