Punjab has always been in the top charts for the drug and liquor smuggling cases. Presently, the state is witnessing a horrendous tragedy of spurious liquor which so far has claimed 86 lives. In the latest development, Punjab Police has detained a total 25 accused in the spurious liquor case and it is being said that the nexus includes top politicians and bureaucrats.
However, Punjab has today suspended 7 excise officials for their illegitimate code of conduct.
The matter of liquor smuggling and liquor bottling is not new for Punjab. The Enforcement Directorate is responsible to take note of the illicit businesses which are ruining and playing with the life of innocent people.
Amidst the coronavirus induced lockdown, the state recorded the business of liquor bottling and smuggling for Rs 1,000-Rs1,500 crore.
According to the top sources and initial findings of ED, illicit business came into being in 2018. Since then, the business doubled, a chain of people, including prominent politicians and bureaucrats joined it and started making money out of it.
The liquor is being sold at the higher rates to the people of other neighbouring states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. They are charged on the name of imported hooch brands.
As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) turns the heat on the liquor mafia, politicians, and bureaucrats in Punjab in one of the biggest liquor scams in the country, the police, and the state excise department seem to be buying time in sharing evidence with the central probe agency.
The multi-crore scam, which smells of a big-time money laundering racket, is giving sleepless nights to several prominent politicians close to power.
Reportedly, these politicians belong to four districts of Punjab i.e., Ludhiana Rural, Mohali, Khanna, and Patiala.
Also Read: Liquor Mafia: CM suspends 7 excise officials involved in Punjab spurious hooch tragedy
The ED from the past two months is also awaiting crucial documents to be handed over by the Punjab Excise Department, which raided distilleries and bottling plants in the past two years.
So far, the ED was able to seize 7 illegal liquor bottling plants across the state.
But, the silence of the Excise Department clearly point towards the top political-bureaucrat nexus, which has become an obstruction in the path of busting top-notch liquor mafia.