Liquor bottling plant at Palampur inspected

Our Correspondent

Palampur, January 20

The Excise and Taxation Department today inspected the premises of a liquor bottling plant at Sansarpur Terrace here in connection with the hooch tragedy that claimed seven lives at Sundernagar in Mandi district in the past two days.

The bottles of spurious liquor seized by the police from different shops and tea stalls in Sundernagar had the label of this bottling plant. Later, a team headed by Tikkam Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, along with the police reached the bottling plant and took the entire stock of liquor in its possession. The sale and supply of liquor from the plant were also stopped.

Later, several teams of the Excise Department along with the police inspected and verified the liquor stocks lying with wholesalers in the district to trace the brand seized in Sundernagar. Besides, retail liquor shops were also inspected at various places.

Vivek Mahajan, Joint Commissioner, Excise and Taxation (North Zone), told The Tribune that the search operation was still going on at various places. “The department team is still inside the bottling plant. However, the brand of spurious liquor supplied in Sundernagar by the mafia has not been recovered so far. The spurious liquor seized in Sundernagar carried the batch number of August 2021,” he said.

According to sources, liquor is being illegally supplied to different districts of the state from Chandigarh and Punjab for the past few years. The mafia is supplying liquor on the doorsteps of people at a cheaper price than available at official vends. It is also luring roadside dhabas and tea stalls. The police and the Excise Department are aware of the illegal trade but they have failed to act against the mafia.

An excise contractor said that the mafia was supplying liquor at half the price at which it was sold at officially allowed shops. He added because of the illegal sale of liquor their businesses had been hit hard in the past two years.