Police, Excise teams seize lahan, liquor

Tarn Taran, April 9

In a special drive launched against illicit liquor trade here on Friday, joint teams of the Excise Department and the district police seized a huge quantity of lahan, illicit liquor and related goods from four villages of the border belt. While four accused, including a woman, were arrested, five others had been booked by the police.

The operation was launched under the supervision of Excise Officer Navjot Bharti and DSP (Operation) Iqbal Singh when Excise Inspectors Amrik Singh, Jatinder Singh and Purshotam Pathania headed the searching teams. Around 55 police personnel were part of the teams. Excise Officer Navjot Bharti said on the instructions of Rajat Aggarwal, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab, the operation was conducted in Cheema Kalan, Pandori Ran Singh, Pandori Sidhwan and Kot Dharam Chand Kalan and as many as 16 houses were searched.

The teams seized 34,120 kg of lahan, 4,27,500 ml of illicit liquor, one working still, two burners, 34 drums, three containers and a 20-foot-long pipe being used for distillation of iIlicit liquor. The operation, which started in the early morning, continued till noon. Cases under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act had been registered. — OC