Brewing on canal banks, zero line, bootleggers keep cops on toes

FLOODPLAINS AND

SMALL ISLANDS IN RIVER AREAS ALONG THE BORDER ACT AS HAVENS FOR THOSE INTO ILLICIT TRADE

BATHINDA:RUNNING illicit breweries on canal banks, village streets to isolated spots near the zero line, bootleggers in the border belt of south Malwa districts have been giving the police and the excise department officials a tough time.

The business of manufacturing illicit liquor by villagers in the region is not new as it has been going on for the last several decades. Most of those into bootlegging, including women, are repeat offenders as they evade strict legal action due to the toothless Excise Act, say the officials.

In Fazilka district, Mahlam, Hindu Mal Kot (located on the line zero on Pakistan border) and Chananwala areas are among the most infamous for distilling liquor. Kattianwali in Muktsar district and Bathinda’s Bir Talab, Nathana and Talwandi Sabo areas are known for producing illicit liquor.

Police officials say tracks between the Pakistan border and the Sutlej in Ferozepur district are commonly used to brew liquor.

“Floodplains and small islands in the river areas along the international border have restricted access due to the BSF protocol. Thus they become haven for bootleggers,” said an official.

Another official said as authorised liquor vends are not available in some of the far-off places in the border belt, villagers prefer buying illicit liquor which comes at relatively cheap price.

Fazilka senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harjit Singh said raiding Mahlama and two other villages is a weekly exercise as lahan (raw material used to manufacture liquor) in hundreds of liters is destroyed every month.

“Villagers dig large pits outside their houses to brew liquor. In the last three months, we have seized and destroyed over 1.25 lakh liters of lahan at Mahlam alone,” the SSP said.