Pithoragarh clamps down on illicit liquor

ALMORA: Pithoragarh district magistrate HC Semwal has asked officials to clamp down on the sale of illicit liquor. Treasury police and regular police officials have been asked to begin raiding those involved in the sale of such liquor. In July, 172 raids were conducted and nine cases registered. Seventy-two litres of illicit liquor were seized. In August, until now, 300 raids have been conducted.
A target of Rs 34 crore was set, for revenue from the sale of legal liquor in the district. Rs 22 crore has already been generated.
Asked why there was this sudden move to curb the sale of illicit liquor, Semwal told TOI, “Last week, the newly elected gram panchayats raised the issue of the sale of illicit liquor in village172 s during a meeting. This has been damaging overall, so I placed orders to start a campaign against illegal liquor.”
On Monday, an upper class judicial magistrate court in Pithoragarh town sentenced three people involved in trade of illicit liquor to six months’ rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs5,000 rupees each.
The sentence was pronounced in a case that pertains to the seizure of illicit liquor on October 18, 2010 by police constable Imran Khan, who found 140 boxes of illicit liquor in the vehicle of a man called Naval Kishore Pandey. Investigators found that the liquor was illicit and the documents forged. A case was registered against three people in this connection, including the driver of the vehicle and a man accompanying him.