Aimed at curbing the trade of banned liquor, Punjab Excise Department has released a helpline number — 9875961126 — on which the general public can report complaints relating to excise crimes, that is smuggling of liquor, lahan, working stills, illegal liquor manufacturing units etc.
“Any person can give information on this helpline number by voice call, SMS or Whatsapp message. A total of 265 complaints have been received since August 8, 2020, and action has been taken on 250 of these, said the Department’s spokesperson.
Pointing out further, the spokesperson said that on the basis of these complaints, 22 FIRs have been lodged and two persons have also been arrested and 414 illicit liquor bottles, 19 cases of liquor, 295 liters of illicit liquor and more than 97200 kg of lahan has been seized.
Numerous complaints have been made against habitual offenders or regarding areas where unlawful activities concerning liquor had been reported in the past as well. A constant vigil is being maintained in such cases, said the spokesperson.
Notably, the Excise Department has been making a determined effort to check illicit distillation, smuggling of liquor, bootlegging etc. within the state of Punjab.
Cracking a whip on illicit liquor trading, Operation Red Rose has been launched, whereby teams of Police Department and Excise officials have been working together against all such excise related crimes.
Meanwhile, under the aegis of ‘Operation Red Rose’, Punjab Excise Department has launched a crackdown against illicit liquor trade within the State. Offensively combating such criminal activities, a raid was conducted on Wednesday in the Bet area alongside river Satluj, in villages Khera Bet and New Rajapur, in Ludhiana district. The operation was jointly undertaken by the excise and local police teams.
Sharing the details, the Excise Department’s spokesperson said that 1.30 lakh litres of lahan was successfully recovered and destroyed. In addition to this, tarpaulins, two drums, one pipe and one working still have been confiscated. FIR has also been lodged in the jurisdictional Police Station by the department.