Excise officials dump 1.3 lakh litre of ‘lahan’ into Sutlej river

Tribune News Service

Ferozepur, May 20

In violation of the environmental laws, the state Excise and Taxation Department in a joint exercise with the Ferozepur police have dumped at least 1.30 lakh litre of ‘lahan’ (raw material used to prepare liquor) into the Sutlej near Hussainiwala international border in Ferozepur district on Wednesday.

SP (D) Ajay Raj, along with Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Karambir Singh Mahla, Excise Inspector PS Virk and other local police officials, raided many places at Habibke Pattan, Arifke and other nearby villages located along the Indo-Pak border in the morning and recovered at least 1.30 lakh litre of ‘lahan’ and 3,000 litre of distilled country-made liquor.

Talking to The Tribune, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner HS Sandhu and ETO said it was one of the biggest seizures of ‘lahan’ and country-made liquor in the state during the past few years.

Mahla said it was not possible to collect ‘lahan’ in utensils, as it was mostly stored in pits covered with tarpaulin, therefore it was dumped into the river.

He said: “The distilled liquor, which was recovered in utensils and rubber tubes, has been handed over to the Police Department so that a case can be registered against unknown persons engaged in the illegal business.”

Phillaur: In a major crackdown against illegal liquor trade, the Jalandhar (Rural) police registered 59 FIRs at various police stations, arrested 41 liquor smugglers and recovered a huge quantity of hooch during the last 72 hours.

Talking to The Tribune, SSP Navjot Singh Mahal said the Nakodar police and cops of Shahkot, Mehatpur, Lohian, Bilga and Phillaur conducted raids and seized 1,446 quintals of ‘lahan’, 1,514 litre of illicit liquor, 39 litre of country-made liquor, 95 litre of english liquor, besides manufacturing equipment were also recovered.

In Nakodar, two liquor manufacturers-cum-smugglers identified as Bholi, a resident of Shankar village, and Sukhdev, a resident of Kular village, were arrested and 124.5 litre of illicit liquor, 945 litre of lahan, two ovens and four drums were recovered from them on Tuesday.