Continuing its drive against the smugglers involved in pilferage of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), joint teams of Excise Department, Excise Police, and Amritsar Police on Friday apprehended five persons and detected seven drums of 200 litres each, total 1400 litres, of ENA from a vehicle (Mahindra Pick-up).
The team also apprehended another vehicle (Innova) along with three persons who were piloting the Mohindra Pick-up.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of the state Excise Commissioner Rajat Agarwal and under the joint supervision of Joint Excise Commissioner Naresh Dubey, and Amritsar SSP (Rural) Dhruv Dahiya, AIG (Excise) APS Ghuman, Jalandhar Zone Deputy Excise Commissioner Jaspinder Singh, and Assistant Commissioner (Excise), Ropar Range, Vinod Pahuja.
Giving details, an official spokesperson of the state Excise Department said that about 20 days back, secret information was received regarding smuggling of ENA from Haryana to Punjab.
“After receiving the tip off, Mohali Excise and the team of AIG Excise started exploring various aspects of the information. It came to notice that few persons from Amritsar and Tarn Taran have again become active in the field of smuggling of ENA and further transporting it to Amritsar and Tarn Taran area,” said the spokesperson.
Spokesperson said that the Excise Department, vide letter dated November 18, 2020, informed the senior Police Authorities to take prompt action.
Excise Department and Amritsar police worked together and shared important information in this regard. Accordingly, a joint operation of Excise Department, Excise Police, and Amritsar Police was conducted on December 10 (Thursday) and made these recoveries.
A case, dated December 11, 2020, under sections 61, 1, 14 of the Punjab Excise Act has been registered in Majitha Police Station in Amritsar district against the accused.
Those arrested include Kawaljit Singh (Gopi) of Rampura village in Amritsar district; Akashdeep Singh of Meharbanpur village in Amritsar district; Harjit Singh alias Jeeta of Rampur village under Chatiwind police station; Maan Singh of Meharbanpura village under Jandiala Guru police station; and Kuldeep Singh from Amritsar.
Further investigations are still going on and strict action will be taken against the defaulters and anyone indulging in such activities, said the spokesperson.