Port Blair: Stepping up its drive against the illegal liquor trade, South Andaman Police conducted a series of coordinated excise enforcement operations across the district over the past week, seizing large quantities of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), illicit handia and fermented wash (lehan) used for brewing country liquor, while registering multiple cases under the Excise Regulation.
The biggest seizure was made by Police Station Pahargaon, where a raid near the Vegetable Market led to the recovery of 93 bottles of IMFL from a room. The operation was led by Inspector Sahil Shamsuddin, SHO, PS Pahargaon. In another raid near NK Crusher at Kamaraj Nagar, the same police station seized eight bottles of illicit IMFL from a habitual excise offender with a history of similar offences.
In a separate operation, a police team from PS Ograbraj carried out a jungle search at Ram Nagar and detected 50 litres of fermented wash (lehan) stored in plastic containers for the manufacture of illicit liquor. The entire quantity was destroyed on the spot after following the prescribed documentation procedure.
At Ongi Tikrey in Little Andaman, PS Hut Bay recovered 18 kg of illicit handia concealed behind a residence during routine patrolling. A sample was collected for chemical analysis and a case was registered under Section 32 of Regulation III of 1876.
Further enforcement by PS Aberdeen, PS Humfrygunj and PS Hut Bay resulted in the seizure of additional bottles of IMFL from Ratna Market, Wandoor and V.K. Pur in Little Andaman. All cases have been registered under the relevant provisions of the Excise Regulation and investigations are continuing.
