SIT formed to probe Sonipat liquor godown issue, illicit liquor sale in Hry

The Haryana government said on Friday a three-member SIT, which will be headed by a senior IAS officer, has been constituted to investigate the huge stock of liquor going missing from two godowns in Sonipat, and the alleged sale of illicit liquor in the state.

With several bootlegging incidents being reported during the lockdown when liquor vends were closed, the SIT will also probe sale of illicit liquor in the state during the period, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said.

Liquor vends in Haryana were closed from March 27 after the lockdown was announced, but have now reopened from May 6 after the state government decided to open the vends.

He said a senior IAS officer -- either Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Kaushal or T C Gupta -- will head the SIT while IPS officer Subhash Yadav and Additional Excise Commissioner Vijay Singh will also be its members and jointly investigate the matter.

The scope of the SIT, which was earlier to probe the case of seized liquor going missing from the godowns in Sonipat, will now also investigate the sale of illicit liquor, Vij said, according to an official statement.

A huge stock of liquor had gone missing from two godowns in Sonipat district and this could not have happened without the connivance of officials, Vij had said on Thursday.

As liquor of other states has been found from the godowns, one can only guess that this place had become den of smuggling, Vij said.

On May 6, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had directed all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to constitute district-level teams to check liquor smuggling across the inter-state borders.

He had asked them that these teams should be headed by a Magistrate and comprise of officers of police and the Excise and Taxation Department.

Besides checking smuggling of illegal liquor across the inter-state borders, these committees will also work to prevent any supply of non-duty-paid liquor from the distilleries to the vends.