Days after more than one lakh bottles of liquor were seized in one of the biggest seizures of alcohol in Bathinda, the Election Commission on Tuesday ordered closure of five distilleries in Punjab until the Assembly elections are over.
“The Commission has ordered closure of five distilleries. The production and dispatching of liquor in these distilleries have been stopped till the elections are over,” said Punjab Chief Electoral Officer VK Singh.
The direction came on the day when 562 boxes of liquor were seized in Khanauri, besides 1,641 boxes of liquor in Cheema, both in Sangrur district. “In Sangrur, 562 boxes of liquor were seized in Khanauri which were brought from Haryana and relabeled as Punjab made. Besides, 1,641 boxes liqour
were also seized in Cheema,” said an election official.
That is not all! In yet another haul of Ayurvedic drugs containing high opium content was seized by a team of Narcotics Control Bureau in Amritsar. The drugs, worth over Rs 2.50 crore, were dumped near railway lines. This is the fourth seizure in past one month.
The five distilleries and bottling plants, which have been shutdown, are BCl Industries in Bathinda, Patiala Distillers and bottlers in Patiala, Adi Brownson Breweries, Kiri Afgana both in Gurdaspur, United Spirits, Moonk in Sangrur and Pernod Ricord Gholumajra in Mohali.
Singh said that liquor in huge quantity had been recovered in several parts of Punjab including Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, ludhiana and Jalandhar ahead of Assembly polls.
“The source of supply of (illegal) liquor to vends from where the seizure was made have been established and five distilleries have been stopped temporarily. liquor trade is regulated and no one can take out even one bottle without permission,” he said.
After the model code of conduct came into force, the Election Commission launched a crackdown on the illegal supply of liquor for luring voters during Punjab Assembly polls. In one of the biggest seizures of alcohol in
Punjab, the State Excise department on Saturday recovered over one lakh bottles of liquor in Bathinda district, brought from multiple States like Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh.
Besides, 1,000 cases of liquor in Hoshiarpur and 2,100 cartons from Pathankot were also recovered. liquor distribution slips were also recovered in Jalandhar and Samrala in ludhiana.
The haul of illegal liquor was made after the Election Commission ordered state-wide drive to check distribution of liquor during high-stakes assembly polls in Punjab.
Regarding the action in case of Bathinda seizure, Punjab Additional Director General of Police and nodal officer for Punjab Elections VK Bhawra said that the police was investigating the matter and action would be taken against the owners of godown from where the liquor bottles were recovered.
Punjab CEO Singh said that the ECI was fully determined to check the flow of liquor and narcotics during the election period and all static and flying squads have been told to ensure proper checking.
Seeking public’s cooperation, he said that every citizen can provide information regarding distribution of liquor and narcotics and prompt action would be taken after the information.
Commenting on reports of misuse of gunman, Singh said that 400 more gunmen have been withdrawn after thorough scrutiny of security provided to the protectees.
Singh said that he personally monitored the situation at Malerkotla and has advised DGP Mohammad Mustafa to stay at headquarters till the polling date.
“I had a video conference with the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of neighboring states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Advisor UT and they have been told to completely seal the border with Punjab 48 hours prior to election to ensure free and fair vote,” he said.
He said that non-voters would not be allowed to stay back in Punjab and would have to leave the State 48 hours before the election. The State would also close liquor vends located in the three-km border belt adjoining Punjab during this period.
ADGP Bhawra said that police, till date, has rounded up 5,573 trouble makers and taken 4,147 in preventive custody to ensure peaceful election in the State. Singh said that ECI has identified 4,840 vulnerable hamlets and 786 critical police stations and all arrangements have been ensured to conduct free and fair elections.
Bhawra added that 94 per cent licensed weapons have been deposited in all districts breaking all previous records. “16 elections related FIRs have been registered throughout State and 34 certified paid news cases have been detected,” he said.