Excise Dept registers 103 cases of liquor smuggling in 2 months

The state Excise Department has registered 103 cases of liquor smuggling in the current financial year. A total of 5,438.771 bulk litre (BL) of illegal liquor was seized from various districts. The department also destroyed around 18,743 litres of ‘lahan’ during the same period.

Advertisement

Excise Commissioner Yunus said the department had constituted special teams at the headquarters-level to curb the menace of illegal liquor smuggling. “A team recently conducted a raid at a unit in Solan where a major shortfall in the stock of extra-neutral alcohol (ENA) was detected. Additionally, illegal holograms and labels were also recovered from the premises. The department has filed an FIR in the matter and further action under the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act is being taken,” he said.

“In another case, the department has filed an FIR against a licensee for manufacturing liquor using illegal holograms and labels. Major discrepancies were found in the stock of the liquor in Sirmaur,” he added.

“Recently, the department has been carrying out an intensive state-wide campaign against the smuggling and manufacturing of illegal liquor. In one such case, liquor brought from Chandigarh was seized in Chamba. Illegal beer was also caught in Una and Bilaspur districts. Similar major enforcement actions were taken in Mandi, Shimla and Kullu districts after inspecting various locations to curb illegal activities,” said the Excise Commissioner.

He further said that stringent action would continue against such unlawful activities. He said strict surveillance would be maintained against those causing revenue loss to the state through illegal liquor trade. Yunus urged people to report any information related to illegal liquor production or trade on the department’s helpline number: 0177-2620426.