Chandigarh hub of smuggling of ‘illegal liquor’: Punjab Excise Dept

Chandigarh has recently become a hub of smugglers who are not only smuggling the ‘illegal liquor’ into Punjab but also hazardous liquor into the Punjab. Surprisingly, despite many alerts from the Punjab Excise Department, the Chandigarh Excise Department remained ignorant till the Senior bureaucrat of the Chandigarh Administration personally interrupted into this serious matter. As per the recent update, Punjab Excise Department had written to the Chandigarh Excise Chief to act fast on this.
Out of all the illegal liquor supply detected by Punjab Excise Department officers, 186 cases are related to Chandigarh. In these cases, about 2916 boxes of illicit liquor were seized. The Punjab Excise Department fears that apart from the seized illegal liquor, a huge quantity of liquor from Chandigarh may have been transported to the markets of the state.
However, after the arrest of some smugglers, the Excise Department has intensified its investigation. It is noteworthy that after the illegal liquor of expensive brand was seized from the distillery in Khasa, Amritsar, the Punjab Excise Department has intensified its investigation. The investigation has been intensified in those areas which are adjacent to the border of Chandigarh.
Excise Commissioner Punjab Varun Roozam told TDG that he has sent information to Vinay Partap Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, Chandigarh about the smuggling of Illegal liquor. He said that 186 cases have been registered in Punjab which are connected to Chandigarh.
Chandigarh DC Varun Roozam said that liquor smuggling on such a large scale is not possible without the connivance of the bottling plants and manufacturers of Chandigarh. Due to this, not only the revenue of Punjab but Chandigarh is also facing revenue loss. While sending the information of all 186 cases by the Punjab Excise Department, the Excise Commissioner of Punjab has said that all the cases will be investigated thoroughly. This will enable us to know where the leakage is coming from and who are the people involved in bottling and distillery.