13 held as crackdown on bootleggers goes on

The crackdown on bootleggers continued in the rural belt with as many as 13 persons, including a woman, being arrested by the police in the past 24 hours while three individuals managed to abscond.

Those arrested were identified as Gurmit Singh of Jhanjoti, Surjit Singh of Harsha Chhinna, Salwinder Singh of Khatrai Khurd village, Bhupinder Singh of Jallupur Kheda, Sunny Singh of Baba Bakala, Puran Singh and Jassa Singh of Bhindi Saida, Gupreet Singh of Toor village, Sukhdev Singh of Toot village, Inder Singh of Bhagtupura, Baldev Singh of Ibban Kalan, Manpreet Kaur of Bhangali Khurd and Banti of Gallowali Kullia village.

Those absconding included Hardeep Singh of Ramdass, Manga Singh of Machhiwala village and Heera Singh (Manpreet Kaur’s husband).

The police seized 1,570 kg of lahan and 412 bottles of illicit liquor from their possession. The police have registered separate First Information Reports (FIRs) under the Excise Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act against them.

To tighten noose around the repeat offenders, the police have also added the stringent section 123 (causing hurt by means of poison etc with intent to commit an offence) and 62 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) in addition to provisions of the Excise Act in the cases registered.