Lahan, illicit liquor seized from Khemkaran MLA aide’s house
TARN TARAN : A joint team of excise department and police on Monday recovered 400-kg lahan (raw material used for making liquor) and 400 litre illicit liquor from the house of a confidant of Congress’ Khemkaran MLA Sukhpal Singh Bhullar at Dayalpura village of Tarn Taran district.
The accused, Nirbhai Singh, a panchayat member, escaped from the spot even as he was present at the time of the raid. In a video clip that was purportedly shot during the raid, Nirbhai is seen talking on phone.
His “servant” Ranjit Singh was arrested, the police said.
Excise department officials said the raid was conducted early morning on a tip-off. Three drums were also recovered from the spot. A case was registered against Nirbhai and Ranjit Singh under sections 61-1-14 of the Excise Act at the Bhikhiwind police station.
“We had information that Nirbhai was involved in bootlegging. He is a panchayat member but claimed himself to be village sarpanch. We didn’t know how he escaped from the spot,” said Inspector Jatinder Singh of the excise department.
Kacha Pakka police post in-charge sub-inspector (SI) Lakhwinder Singh, who was part of the raid, said, “We nabbed Ranjit but Nirbhai managed to flee.” It was the police team that allowed Nirbhai to escape from the spot, it is learnt. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruman H Nimbale said, “I will check if the accused was present at the time of the raid.”
An excise official said, “We even got a call from MLA Bhullar’s personal assistant who asked us to oblige Nirbhai.”
MLA Bhullar said, “I do not know why he kept such a large quantity of liquor at his residence.” About his photos with the accused, he said, “He is from my constituency and it’s normal to get photographed with people from one’s area.”
In another raid in the village, the team arrested Nishan Singh, also a Congress worker, after 400-kg lahan and 20 litre illicit liquor were recovered from his premises.