ED registers case in illicit liquor trade in Punjab

PATIALA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering in the illicit liquor scam, including the hooch tragedy, in Punjab. The ED had written to the Punjab Police to supply information on FIRs registered in illicit liquor trade, but received no response.

The ED has filed Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 13 cases, involving the 122 deaths, due to illicit liquor in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Batala and illicit liquor bottling plants at Shambu, Khanna and Ludhiana, which were busted during lockdown.

The ED will track these 13 cases, and has already written to SSPs asking for documents they require in the case. The ED has asked for information about illegal liquor distilleries, inter-state liquor smuggling, source of raw material used for illegal liquor for distilleries and illegal liquor factories run by distilleries to evade excise

“As the state police didn’t respond to our pleas to give information on FIRs, we have registered and ECIR under money laundering in hooch tragedy and illicit liquor trade. Now, we will probe these cases on our own and the police is duty-bound to reply within seven days or we will collect information through court,” said an ED official, requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to media.

Names of three Congress MLAs and their close aides have been, directly or indirectly, surfaced in the illicit liquor trade. The ED has been probing the source of raw material used to make illegal liquor, due to which hooch tragedy occurred.

The ED will also explore how much money has been made and where it was spent, its beneficiaries from the cases.

It will explore financial transactions and details to nail the guilty. “As per a conservative estimate, the accused of Ghanaur illegal distillery had earned Rs 100 crore in the last five months,” the ED official added.

The opposition has accused the state government of patronising illicit liquor trade and have been demanding a CBI probe.

Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has said that the guilty will be brought to book and no one will be spared. Apart from constituting a SIT, Amarinder has also set up an excise reforms group to break the nexus between producers, wholesalers, and retailers.

THE PROBE AGENCY HAS FILED CASE UNDER THE MONEY LAUNDERING ACT; IT WILL TRACK 13 CASES INVOLVING OVER 100 DEATHS