1,400 boxes of beer seized in Yamunanagar; 2nd case in a week

The police have caught a truck allegedly loaded with 1,400 boxes (16,800 bottles) of beer near Kalanaur village, situated close to the border of Haryana-Uttar Pradesh in Yamunangar district.

The truck and the boxes of beer were impounded as these were being transported to Dehradun, Uttarakhand, from Ludhiana without obtaining a transit slip from the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department.

This is the second incident, when a truck loaded with boxes of beer was caught in Yamunanagar district, in last one week. Earlier, the district police had impounded a truck carrying 1,550 boxes of beer near Sukhpura village of the district on September 1.

As per available information, a team of Kalanaur police post was checking vehicles on September 4. During checking, a truck was found loaded with boxes of beer. The driver was asked to present the transit slip, but he failed to do so. The officials informed the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner Krishan Kumar, who immediately sent Excise Inspector Mohan Rana and Anil Kumar to the spot and the boxes were counted in their presence.

“The truck was loaded with 1,400 boxes of beer,” said Pramod Kumar Walia, in-charge, police post, Kalanaur.

He said the beer bottles were loaded from Ludhiana to be supplied to Dehradun. He added that the truck driver had been identified as Shyam Lal of Uttarakhand.

“The transporter and the owner of the beer had been given notices to join the investigation. The driver was interrogated and the police let him go for now,” the police official said.

He said the truck driver failed to present a transit slip, which was issued to transport liquor to other states through Haryana during enforcement of the model code of conduct. The Excise Department took samples of the beer to send them for examination, he added.

He further said that on the complaint of Excise Inspector Mohan Rana, a case had been registered under Section 61(1) of The Punjab Excise Act 1914 (Haryana Amendment Bill, 2020) at Sadar police station, Yamunanagar on September 4.