Campaign of the Excise Department against illegal liquor traders
State Taxes and Excise Commissioner Yunus said here today that the department has launched a intense campaign against illegal liquor traders across the state. He said that in this ongoing action against illegal liquor traders, 1189 bulk liters of alcohol, 532 bulk liters of denatured spirit, 19 drums and 29 boxes of illicit liquor have been recovered so far. Apart from this, a fine of Rs 1,71,000 has also been imposed.
He said that the department had recently exposed a unit supplying illegal spirits in district Sirmaur. In the last two days, 15 cases of illicit liquor have been registered by conducting raids against illegal storage and sale of liquor in different districts of the State. During this, 29 cases of illicit liquor have been caught, which includes 20 boxes of Country liquor, 8 boxes of English liquor and one box of beer and 17700 milliliters of illicit liquor.
The department is also inspecting all the authorized licensed vendors and manufacture premises. The team of South Zone Flying Squad located at Parwanoo, under the leadership of GD Thakur, Joint Commissioner of State Taxes and Excise, investigated the factories and caught 7 cases of irregularities. During the inspection in Kala Amb, 19 drums of alcohol have been caught, out of which 580 bulk liters of excise product was found in 5 drums. He said that all these drums have been sealed and samples have been sent to the laboratory. He said that apart from this, 149 bulk liters of alcohol in excess and shortage of 692 bulk liters of alcohol was found in the same factory. The team also inspected 6 companies manufacturing spirit products in Baddi and Kala Amb. In which 532 bulk liters of denatured spirit was found in excess in the stock of two companies during the checking. Whereas in four other cases, 460 bulk liters of alcohol stock excess quantity was found. He said that further action under the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act is going on in all these seven cases.
He said that if any licensee is found involved in any kind of suspicious activities, then his license would be cancelled and action will be taken as per the Excise Act. Illegal traders of liquor will be dealt with strictly.