In a crackdown against the liquor mafia, the State Taxes and Excise Department Himachal Pradesh on Thursday lodged FIR after the seizure of illegal liquor, and confiscation of fake holograms, labels and corks in Shimla.

State Taxes and Excise Commissioner Yunus informed that on the basis of secret information in Shimla district, a surprise inspection of the premises located at Shanan in the suburbs of Shimla was done by the team constituted by the department.

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The Commissioner said that during inspection 21 bottles of English liquor (For sale in Chandigarh) and two bottles of beer were found in the premises, he said, adding that 16,230 fake holograms and 11,984 fake labels were also found in the premises.

“Apart from this, fake lids of country liquor in a sack were also seized. A gallon of 50 kg, which contained some suspicious substance, which is to be confirmed by the chemical testing laboratory, was also seized,” he said.

An FIR has been registered against the culprits in Dhalli police station against illegal liquor, fake holograms, and fake labels” said Yunus.

“Apart from this, 7 bottles of illicit liquor were seized from a Dhaba in Shimla by another team of the department,” he added.

“Action has been implemented by the departmental officers in different parts of the state under the Excise Act, in which the officers in district Kullu, Nurpur, Sirmaur have taken possession of 3605 liters of raw liquor (lahan) and destroyed it as per rules. Also, 63 bottles of English liquor, 167 bottles of country liquor, 34 bottles of beer, and 96 bottles of wine have been confiscated by the departmental teams in the state under the Excise Act” he said.

Excise Commissioner Yunus informed that 65 special task forces have been constituted at the regional and district level in the state.

He said that a control room has been established in the headquarters to keep an eye on the transportation of liquor and intoxicants, other types of consumer goods.

“Necessary guidelines have been issued to the task force to stop the sale, manufacture and smuggling of illicit liquor in the state and to take strict action against the guilty” he added.

In order to ensure that the liquor was not illegally transported in all the units having liquor manufacturing units and wholesalers, the monitoring was being done through an IP-based CCTV camera by the department, he added.