Crackdown on bootleggers: 41 nabbed in Punjab's 3 border districts

The Punjab Police arrested at least 41 alleged bootleggers in a crackdown on the illicit liquor trade in three border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Pathankot.

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The police seized over 18,000 litres of lahan, the raw material used in the manufacturing of liquor, during the raids in the three districts. Over 200 litres of illicit liquor was also confiscated by the police. The action came in the wake of the Majitha spurious liquor tragedy, which has claimed 27 lives so far.

DIG (Border Range) Satinder Singh said nobody would be allowed to play with the lives of others and affirmed commitment to end the menace. “We have been taking action against illegal liquor manufacturers on regular basis. However, due to lack of stringent laws, violators usually get bail and restart the illegal trade,” said a senior police officer. The Amritsar rural police said they arrested 13 bootleggers in the past 24 hours. The police confiscated 3,000 kg of lahan, the raw material used for the manufacturing of illicit liquor.

The Amritsar police also recovered around 50 litres of illicit liquor.

Tarn Taran: The district police here on Thursday seized 15,470 litres of lahan and arrested 15 persons, including two women, in separate instances. The police also recovered 133.5 litres of illicit liquor.The entire lahan was recovered by the Chabal police. Chabal SHO Harpreet Singh said 15,400 litres of lahan was seized from two brothers, identified as Gurbhinder Singh and Gursewak Singh.

The SHO said the accused had constructed a bunker in their house where they had stored the lahan. Both were habitual offenders, the official said. The area police also arrested a couple from Kot Dharam Chand Kalan, identified as Sukhdev Singh and Baljit Kaur. Seventy litres of lahan was seized from them.

Pathankot: The police here arrested 13 persons in 12 cases. Five of the accused were women. The police seized 42 litres of illicit liquor and 283 bottles of lahan. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Daljinder Singh Dhillon said, “This may act as a deterrent for those indulging in the illegal trade.” According to sources, a major part of illicit liquor consumed in Pathankot city and its satellite towns comes from Channi Belli village of Himachal Pradesh. “There will be more arrests soon as we try to break the backbone of this business in this city,” said an officer.

(Inputs from Gurbaxpuri and Ravi Dhaliwal)