In the Indian state of Punjab, during the curfew, the layers of the liquor business have started opening up in the form of big racket. Sensational facts are coming out in the raids conducted by the excise department recently to check the stock of distilleries of the state. As soon as the curfew-lockdown was implemented due to Covid-19, the political leaders and corrupt excise officers who were directly and indirectly involved in the liquor business in the state were hit.

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Black marketing of liquor was done in the state with mutual connivance. Black marketing of liquor was being done with the help of ready stock, but when the state government allowed the distilleries to prepare sanitizer, the distilleries owners opened the production of liquor under its guise. The investigation of the Excise Department has revealed that most of the Excise Inspectors posted in distilleries were also involved in this rigging. The department has transferred the officers posted in most of the distilleries under quick action, but the next major action will be after thorough investigation of rigging. The sanitizer was to be prepared using the chemical used to prepare the wine. The amount of alcohol in this chemical is more than 72 percent and the government needed sanitizers containing 70 percent alcohol.

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Alcohol is prepared by dialuting with water of this chemical and bringing it up to 40 percent alcohol. The excise department has come to know that many distilleries smuggled this chemical from other states and also continued to produce liquor under the guise of sanitizer in their plants. Although the department has not yet made public the name of any distillery involved in the rigging and any of its officers, but department officials say that the records seized in the raids are being scrutinized. It is also being ascertained how much chemical was supplied by the concerned distillery, how much sanitizer was prepared and how much stock of the remaining chemical is there. Department Principal Secretary A. Venu Prasad says that almost all the excise officers have been replaced and the entire matter is being investigated. He said that no officer will be spared the wrongdoing.

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