2 years after hooch tragedy, illicit liquor trade still rampant in Punjab

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, November 22

Two years after the hooch tragedy that claimed over 125 lives in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Batala, locals still continue to manufacture illicit liquor.

“The situation at the ground level has not changed at all. The illicit liquor distillation continues unabated and the police know about it. There is a nexus among bootleggers, police and politicians,” alleged Rattan Singh Randhawa, a leader of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha.

On Monday, the Supreme Court came down heavily on authorities concerned for treating illicit liquor cases with ‘kid gloves’. The police hardly lay hands on the big fish and if they do, they manage to get bails and go scot free, alleged Randhawa, adding that there was a need to make the laws more stringent for repeat offenders.

Though the menace is rampant in the border villages, Bhindi Saida, Lopoke, Gharinda, Khemkaran, Khalra and Ajnala, the majority of hooch tragedy victims belonged to Tarn Taran’s Pandori Gola, Bhullar, Rataul and Bath villages. The menace is widespread in Gokulpura Mohalla, Muradpura abadi and Dhotian village as well.

Rashpal Singh, one of the prime suspects in the hooch tragedy, belonged to Dhotian. After being on the run for two years, he had surrendered before a court in May this year. Nevertheless, he managed to secure bails within weeks after many witnesses turned hostile.

According to Gurbhej Singh, former sarpanch of Palasour in Tarn Taran, illicit liquor was being sold at least 12 places in the village and the police knew about it. Another resident pointed out that brewing of illicit liquor in Mand areas was an open secret.

During the ‘Operation Red Rose’ launched in Punjab following the hooch tragedy, the police identified and raided many places where the liquor was being manufactured.

IG (Border Range) Mohnish Chawla said the Punjab Police had been conducting regular raids and making seizures in the border belt. “We were working in tandem with the Excise Department and have made heavy seizures of lahan (raw material for manufacturing illicit liquor) and illicit liquor in the past. It is an ongoing process and enforcement is the only way to tackle the menace,” said the IG.

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