Village watchmen to help bust illegal liquor network

LUCKNOW: Ahead of the forthcoming panchayat polls, the excise department top brass has decided to involve village chowkidars (watchmen) to help report the movement of liquor mafia and their possible areas of operation. The Allahabad high court has already set a deadline of April 30 for the state authorities to hold the three-tier rural polls.

It had been decided that the excise department and police teams would work in coordination while carrying out raids, officials said. Both excise and police teams would take the help of chowkidars for accurate information on the mafia and to bust their illicit liquor network, the state’s additional chief secretary (Excise) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said.

“In rural areas, we are keeping a watch to ensure that there are no cases of illicit liquor manufacture and sale ahead of and during the panchayat polls,” he said.

The crackdown has already begun with 4,926 cases registered by the excise department against the liquor mafia in Uttar Pradesh in February.

“During this period, 1,52,272 litres of illicit liquor was recovered and 4,94,414 kg material used in preparation of illicit liquor was destroyed on the spot. Along with it, 1449 persons involved in the illegal act have been arrested and 63 vehicles have also been seized,” Bhoosreddy said.

He also gave details of a few cases of seizure.

“In Muzaffarnagar, one person was arrested along with 23 cases of illicit ‘Tohfa’ brand country liquor from a car. During checking at a toll plaza in Agra district, two people were arrested while 192 quarters of illicit country liquor was recovered from a car. In Baghpat district, two people were arrested with 10 cases of illegal foreign liquor from a car,” he said.

“Then during a raid in Ghaziabad district, 10 cases of illicit liquor for sale in Haryana were recovered from a Mahindra Bolero and an FIR has been registered against two people. In Bulandshahr district, 1100 boxes of illegal liquor for sale in Arunachal Pradesh,” he added.

In rural areas, we are keeping a watch to ensure that there are no cases of illicit liquor manufacture and sale ahead of and during the panchayat polls,

SANJAY R BHOOSREDDY , additional chief secretary (Excise)