The fight against illegal alcohol trade in Uttar Pradesh has taken an unusual twist of late. In a bizarre and surprising disclosure, the liquor mafia seems to have adopted a clever strategy to elude law enforcement and boost sales using indigenous methods. Their unconventional method of operation includes utilising hand pumps. Yes, you read that right. Scores of handpumps in Kabutra Dera of Pargana village area of Jhansi are letting out alcohol, instead of water. This modus operandi was busted by the police after receiving an anonymous tip of illegal alcohol sale being carried out in the area.
When the team of Excise Department and police arrived to raid, based on the information of illegal liquor being made at Kabutra Dera, they extracted liquor from both homes as well as fields used for cultivation. The police and the excise department got suspicious when they noticed an unconventional number of hand pumps in the fields. The number of hand pumps were way more than is required to water the fields.
When the officials started activating the hand pump, liquor started coming out instead of water. When excavation was done, it was found that the hand pumps were just for show. Liquor drums were placed underground just beneath the hand pumps so that liquor could be easily sold without raising any kind of suspicion.
Excise Inspector Ashok Ram reported that a collaborative effort between the police and excise departments conducted a raid at Pargana Kabutar Dera. In this operation, 500 litres of illicit liquor were seized, and three thousand kilograms of Lahan (a material used in the fermentation process) were also destroyed. Additionally, two female individuals involved in this illicit business were apprehended.
This is not the first time that this modus operandi has been followed by the liquor mafia. Last year, a video of a hand pump dispensing alcohol in the Besariya Dera village of Jhansi had gone viral and the police had made many arrests in the case.
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