13 held, 2,000 ltrs spurious liquor seized in crackdown in UP

In the wake of Uttar Pradesh hooch tragedy, a state-wide crackdown against the sale of illicit liquor has been launched with the police arresting 13 persons till now and seizing more than 2,000 litres of spurious liquor.
The Mathura police and excise department have arrested twelve persons and seized around 1,700 litres of spurious liquor after raids were conducted at several places in the city in this connection.
Around 1,400 and 300 litres of spurious liquor was seized from Arding area in Govardhan and Bhatu colonies respectively. Six places that produced hooch illicitly were also destroyed, Assistant Commissioner of Excise department, Bhagwan Singh Verma said.

Besides, raids were also conducted in Shergad, Surir, and Nauzil areas of Mathura district, Verma said, adding, labourers working in brick kilns here used to consume this liquor.
The Kanpur police, in its raids, have seized 320 litres of spurious liquor since yesterday from various places in the district.
Around 320 litres of spurious liquor was seized from two places in Kalyanpuri while six places that produced hooch illicitly were also destroyed in the last 24 hours, it said.

495 quarters of liquor produced illicitly was seized from a factory in Ghatampur area along with a packing machine and other equipments, police said.

The operator of the factory, Titu Katiyar, was also arrested by the police.
Also, an illegal place selling spurious liquor in Rawal village in Mathura has been shut down. It is believed that liquor has been smuggled in the district from Rajasthan and Haryana as the prices are less in those states, police said.
The toll in the tragedy in the Lucknow and Unnao districts of Uttar Pradesh today climbed to 38 even as the state government removed Excise Commissioner in connection with the incident.
"Total 38 persons have died since Monday, which include 32 in Lucknow and 6 in Unnao," IG (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh told PTI.

Over 100 victims were still undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the state capital after they fell ill upon consuming illicit liquor on Sunday. The condition of eight of them was stated to be critical.
Taking serious note of the incident Uttar Pradesh government removed State Excise Commissioner Anil Garg from his post last night. He has been put on the wait list.
The tragedy led to state-wide crackdown against sale of illicit liquor with police carrying out raids and arresting people involved in the spurious liquor trade.