17,000 litres of lahan destroyed in Jalalabad

The police here on Wednesday destroyed about 17,000 litres of lahan — the raw material used in the manufacturing of country liquor.

Station House Officers (SHO) in the Jalalabad sub-dison and about 100 police personnel had raided Mahalam village, known as a hub of illicit liquor in the border area.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jatinder Singh said the police teams seized about 17,000 liters of lahan and destroyed it on the spot.

He said three cases had also been registered. The action came following the death of at least 24 persons after consuming illicit liquor in Amritsar’s Majitha.

On December 1, the police had raided the village and destroyed 10,000 litres of illicit liquor. However, the accused managed to flee.

On December 17 last year, days before the civic body elections in Punjab and adjoining Rajasthan, the police had seized 1.23 lakh litres of raw liquor in a special operation carried out along the banks of the Gang Canal. On October 13, the Excise Department had conducted a raid along Chanankhera Canal and seized 15,000 litres of raw liquor.

On August 14, the department recovered 25,000 litres of illicit liquor near a canal in Chanankhera and Ghattianwali villages.