Chandigarh: Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday said that a joint operation conducted by the Special Operation Group (Excise) and Excise Police on Thursday late evening led to the seizure of 80,000 litres of ethanol in the Bathinda region. He said that the ‘AAP’ government’s zero-tolerance policy against illicit liquor trade has yielded significant results, with a total of 1,70,000 litres of ENA/Ethanol seized so far.
Addressing a press conference here at Punjab Bhawan, Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema detailed the intelligence-driven operation that led to the bust. He said that acting on a credible information regarding a gang engaged in unlawful ethanol/spirit pilferage and storage, specialised teams conducted reconnaissance before launching a meticulously planned raid. The operation culminated at Navraj Dhaba in Bathinda, where the gang was caught red-handed transporting ethanol/spirit in two Gujrat registered tankers (Reg. Nos. GJ06BV4926 and GJ06BV7626), each loaded with 40,000 litres.
The Finance minister said that the seized ethanol, originally loaded from VRV Hospitality Pvt Ltd in Chak Alia, Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, was en route to IOCL Bathinda. He added that it is suspected that the consignment was meant for clandestine transportation to dry states, where liquor production and sale are prohibited, for illicit use.