Illicit bottling plant unearthed in Nalagarh

Tribune News Service

Ambika Sharma

Solan, January 22

The police raided an illegal liquor bottling plant operational in a forest area at Gujjarhatti in the Nalagarh industrial area around 8.15 pm yesterday. The raid was conducted on information provided by Goru, a Palampur resident, whom the special investigation team (SIT) had arrested from a hotel at Zirakpur last evening.

Additional SP, Baddi, Narinder Kumar said that a four-member police team unearthed the plant in Gujjarhatti forest and seized 19 blue empty drums and 26 bags containing empty glass bottles bearing no label lying outside a locked building.

The policemen broke open the lock of the door and recovered 20 blue empty drums, a green drum and 47 cartons of liquor bearing the label of VRV Foods Limited (12x750 ml). Besides, 43 bundles of material used for packaging liquor bottles and three bags of empty glass bottles bearing no label and other packaging materials were also seized.

Accused Manu and Gagan, who are partners of Goru in this illegal trade, are yet to be arrested. The police have registered a case under Sections 39(1)C, 47 and 50 of the Excise Act and launched a probe.

The employees of the State Taxes and Excise Department failed to detect both sale and production of illicit liquor and the spirit used to manufacture liquor. The toxic blue drums at the plant that were used to transport chemicals by industries, point to the unhygienic conditions under which the liquor was being bottled there.

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