Hooch tragedy: Odisha Excise department intensifies crackdown on illegal liquor dens

Days after two persons from Chikiti area in Ganjam district allegedly died due to consumption of spurious liquor, the Excise department and police have swung into action and intensified crackdowns on illegal liquor dens in different parts of Odisha.

The Excise Department officials on Sunday busted a liquor den on Balisira hills and seized 4.500 litres of fermented liquor and 100 litres of country liquor with other manufacturing equipment.

“Acting on a tip-off, we raided the Balisira hills and busted the liquor manufacturing unit. We have also seized around 4500 litres of fermented liquor and 100 litres of country liquor,” said an Excise Department official

Similarly, the police arrested a person from Bira Narayanpur under K Nuagaon police limits for illegal country liquor smuggling. The man was arrested while he was on his way to Ganjam from Gajapati district on a bike. The police have seized 80 litres of country liquor from his possession.

In another incident, the police raided an illegal liquor den operated by a woman at Arakhakuda village under Krushna Prasad block in Puri and seized 4000 litres of country liquor and fermented liquor.
According to sources, the police have registered a case against the woman.

Earlier on Saturday, the Commissionerate Police bulldozed three illegal liquor units at Salia Sahi in Bhubaneswar following a raid. Huge quantities of country liquor and other manufacturing equipment were seized during the raid.

Notably, two people died and 15 others from Karbala and Jenasahi villages fell ill after consuming country liquor sold near Moundpur in Ganjam.

Meanwhile, K Nuagaon police has arrested another person for his alleged involvement in the Ganjam hooch tragedy.

Pabana Sahu aka Prabhakar, who is believed to be another mastermind of the case, has been arrested from Maundapur village on the wee hours of Sunday. 

With Pabana’s arrest, a total of 9 persons have been held for their involvement in the case.

“Pabana’s mobile phone was tracked and he was arrested at around 4 am today,” informed Kishore Kumar Samal, IIC, K Nuagaon police station.