THREE HELD FOR SMUGGLING HOOCH IN DIST, NEARBY AREAS

LUCKNOW : Police arrested three people with hooch in different parts of the district on Monday under the drive against sale of illicit liquor here and in adjoining towns.

Under the drive, all police stations located on the city outskirts and sharing borders with nearby districts have been asked to keep a tab on the sale of hooch in the districts.

Confirming the arrest, senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Lucknow, Kalanidhi Naithani said, “We have arrested one Prithvi Lal Ravat and Navrang from Nagram town while one Raju was arrested from Talkatora area.”

Police have recovered the hooch that the accused were smuggling.

“A spurt has been observed in the hooch sales during the winters and its increases the chances of mishap. Our aim is to mitigate such incident in the district,” said the SSP.

Reportedly, hooch is primarily sold in rural pockets of the district and in some city areas. Though most of the hooch sold in the district is smuggled in from nearby districts, it is also produced in some rural households in Kakori, Mal and other areas here.

Police officials have also been asked to identify people suspected to be involved in smuggling hooch or have served sentence for the same.

“The officials are making a list of such people and it will be shared with all the concerned officials. This will make it easier to identify those involved in smuggling or sale of hooch,” the SSP said.