CHANDIGARH,
Tightening the noose around bootleggers, Punjab Police on Saturday launched an extensive statewide drive aimed at curbing the sale of illicit liquor in the region, besides, keeping vigil on manufacturers of spurious liquor. The drive was carried out on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav as part of the ongoing campaign to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that the operation was conducted across the state in a synchronised manner from 12noon to 4pm. All the CPs/SSPs were asked to depute SHOs/additional SHOs of each police station to raid premises and check the whereabouts of persons involved in more than three excise act cases in last two years, he said.
As many as 306 Police teams, involving 1200 police personnel, have raided 813 premises of 775 persons, who are involved in three cases under the Excise Act in the last two years.
The Special DGP said that the Police teams have also recovered 1470kg lahan (raw material used to make liquor), 50 litres of illicit liquor, 403 bottles of illicit liquor and 70 grams of heroin after registering 22 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. He said that keeping in view the forthcoming Lok Sabha Polls, Jalandhar Rural Police have also destroyed 4580 litres of Lahan.
He said that the intent to carry out this operation was to keep a check on the influx of illicit liquor from across the inter-state borders, besides, keeping a tab on manufacturers of hooch. Such raids would continue further, he added.
Meanwhile, such operations also help in infusing fear among anti-social elements and instilling a sense of security among common people.