10 illegal stills unearthed; Amritsar rural police seize 360 litres of illicit liquor

PK Jaiswar

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 20

The Amritsar rural police on Saturday busted 10 illegal stills at Jasso Nangal village on the border of Amritsar and Tarn Taran.

The police seized 360 litres of illicit liquor besides 1.35 lakh kg of ‘lahan’ (raw material mixed for distillation of illicit liquor) from the village.

It arrested five men — Baljinder Singh, Gurmit Singh, Komal Singh, Paramjit Singh and Gagandeep Singh — and registered six cases under the Excise Act.

Rural police authorities said that as the village is located on the border of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, the accused used to supply illicit liquor to their customers and clients in Baba Bakala, Jandiala and Tarn Taran areas before the sunrise.

They said the village is notorious for bootlegging and its name also came to light during the hooch tragedy that killed over 100 people in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Batala last year.

Police authorities said the properties of these bootleggers were being identified.

This is the fifth such raid and seizure of huge quantities of illicit liquor and ‘lahan’ in the rural belt during this month. Earlier, the police had raided Khiala Kalan, Lakhuwal, Chhapa Ram Singh and Kotli Sakka villages and made huge recoveries.