NH-152D preferred route to smuggle liquor to Gujarat via Rajasthan

Ravinder Saini

Mahendragarh, July 20

The 227-km-long road from Ambala to Narnaul — National Highway 152D — is being used for smuggling liquor from Punjab and its surrounding areas to Gujarat via Rajasthan in the absence of police barricades for vehicle checking.

Seizures so far

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As per official information, the Mahendragarh police seized 412 boxes of liquor in November 2022, 1,023 boxes in December 2022, 490 boxes in March and 310 boxes in June this year on NH-152D. Similarly, over 1,140 boxes of liquor were seized at various places of the district in three cases. In a majority of cases, the liquor was being smuggled to Gujarat from Punjab and Chandigarh.

As per sources, the district police have seized seven consignments of liquor in the past eight months. Four of them were confiscated on NH-152 while three others were brought to the district by using the highway.

“The mafia uses NH-152D to transport the liquor to Gujarat via Rajasthan due to multiple reasons. Since it is an expressway, there are no permanent police barricades between Ambala and Narnaul. It is also the shortest route to reach Rajasthan from various parts of Punjab and Chandigarh, besides it costs less in terms of conveyance expenses,” said a local police official.

“The analysis of liquor smuggling cases indicates that the vehicles carrying liquor chose NH-152D from Ambala and reached Narnaul after covering 227 km. They then they take the Delhi-Jaipur Highway to enter Rajasthan for going to various parts of Gujarat,” he maintained.

Vikrant Bhushan, SP, Mahendragarh, said no barricade had been placed on NH-152D in the district, but the police did carry out regular patrolling, especially at night.

“Moreover, our team, while acting swiftly on a tip-off regarding any illegal activity, reaches the highway immediately. We have succeeded in seizing illicit liquor seven times in the past eight months,” the SP added. Meanwhile, Deepak Rathi, a social activist, has urged the DGP, Haryana, to direct SPs of all districts to carry out regular patrolling.