BATHINDA, May 30: The Punjab Excise Department claims to have uncovered a major racket involving the smuggling of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), allegedly diverted from a distillery for illicit liquor production and sanitiser manufacturing.
In a coordinated operation on Thursday night, officials seized 80,000 litres of ENA from two tankers intercepted near a dhaba in Kot Shamir, Bathinda. Eight individuals, including four from Bathinda, were arrested. Two cars were also impounded during the operation.
The tankers, bearing Gujarat registration plates, were traced through GPS tracking and found to have been loaded at the VRV Hospitality distillery in Gurdaspur. Officials believe the consignment was being rerouted under false pretenses.
Excise Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated the government is taking a firm stand against illicit liquor networks. “We have zero tolerance towards ENA smuggling. The seized alcohol was likely headed to illegal liquor makers or manufacturers of perfumes and sanitisers in other states,” he said. “It was a well-coordinated effort to catch the culprits red-handed.”
Cheema further revealed that the ENA was officially marked for transfer to a major chemical factory in Punjab, whose role is now under investigation. “We are working to identify both forward and backward linkages in this supply chain,” he added.
The scale of the seizure underscores the seriousness of the case. “This quantity of ENA could have been used to produce 3.75 lakh bottles of 50° country-made liquor, 2.5 lakh bottles of 75° IMFL, or 1.1 lakh bottles of sanitiser,” Cheema noted.
Officials say the crackdown was a result of sustained surveillance and intelligence gathering, with further arrests and seizures expected as the investigation progresses.
