Mohali, January 12: As many as 2,448 bottles of liquor smuggled from Chandigarh have been confiscated by excise and taxation officials here on Friday night.
Giving details, Paramjit Singh, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mohali, said they confiscated 204 cases of English and country-made liquor being transported in a Swaraj Mazda vehicle bearing registration number PB10GK 2495C last night.
The officials also caught the driver of the vehicle, who was later handed over to local police.
Paramjit Singh said, “Our team signalled the driver of the vehicle to stop at a naka in Mohali. Instead of stopping, he accelerated the vehicle. Following a long chase, our team, with the help of the Gharuan police, managed to intercept the vehicle at Gharuan.”
He added that there was no hologram on any of the bottles. “During our investigation, we found that the liquor was prepared at different units in Industrial Area, Chandigarh,” said the excise official.
The official admitted that liquor bottles sans hologram were being smuggled on a large scale from Chandigarh to Punjab area. “The smuggling would adversely affect the quota lifting of liquor in Punjab, which would result in big loss of revenue.”
The police have arrested two persons in the case. They have been identified as Lakhwinder Singh Lakki and Shri Ram, both residents of Ludhiana.
The police have registered a case under the Excise Act against Lakhwinder Singh, Shri Ram, contractor Sunny Gill and Chandigarh liquor vend incharge Kulbir Singh. Efforts were under way to arrest the remaining two suspects.
