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After Delhi, excise policy of Punjab’s AAP govt under judicial scanner

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 Aiming to boost revenue by reducing the price of alcohol and making the booze lovers kings, the new excise policy of the AAP government in Punjab which became operational from July 1, has come under the judicial scanner with those in the trade accusing the government of monopolising the liquor industry in favour of a “handful of entities”.

However, the government claims the policy is aimed at keeping a stringent check on the smuggling of liquor from neighbouring states and is expecting revenue generation of Rs 9,647.85 crore, a spike of about Rs 2,600 crore from the previous fiscal year.

The new policy, approved by the cabinet last month, is applicable for nine months till March 31, 2023.

The petition filed by Akash Enterprises and other wholesale and retail vendors challenged the policy in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the plea that it is an attempt to monopolise the liquor trade. It is pending before the court.

The petitioners pleaded that the government had issued a corrigendum whereby the maximum number of retail groups that can be allotted to an entity has been increased to five from three, which furthers the intent of monopolising the liquor industry into the hands of a few ‘resourceful’ bidders.

Contrary to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office told IANS that the new excise policy aims to break the mafia nexus in the liquor trade.

Joining issue, rebel AAP leader and now Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira said since Arvind Kejriwal has replicated the Delhi excise policy in Punjab by putting the liquor trade into the hands of the mafia and has robbed small contractors of their livelihood, there should be a similar CBI probe ordered against this policy in Punjab to bring out the truth.

“It is an irony that while Kejriwal is crying wolf in Delhi and issuing clean chits to his ministers accused of corruption with irrefutable evidence, his government in Punjab is orchestrating a malicious and vengeful vendetta campaign in the state against political opponents on baseless allegations of corruption,” he said.

For consumers it has brought cheers with the reduction in the price.

The duties levied on liquor in the wholesale trade have been slashed by 25-60 per cent.

Also in the new policy no quota has been fixed for the sale of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer, which means vend owners can sell as much liquor as they can.

Trade insiders told IANS the policy has reduced the number of groups or clusters of liquor vends from about 750 in the last financial year to 177, with the aim to increase control over the liquor trade and tap optimum revenue.

Als, the government gave its nod to allot two special battalions of police to the excise department, in addition to the existing force, for keeping an effective vigil over the excise duty pilferage.

To encourage investment, a provision for a new distillery and brewery licence has been made in the policy for the production of malt spirit which has been done to encourage crop diversification and provide better remuneration to the farmers.

A government official familiar with the matter told IANS earlier that it was the liberal liquor policy of Chandigarh that was hitting neighbouring states the most, including Punjab.

The chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on several occasions had requested the Chandigarh administration to fix a quota for licensees and increase levies as these have been causing an annual revenue loss of Rs 200-Rs 300 crore to them owing to liquor smuggling.

They had argued that allocation of unlimited quota to a licencee in Chandigarh was promoting smuggling of liquor to nearby states.

“Now it is the liberal liquor policy of Punjab that is going to hit neighbouring states the most,” added the official.

In Punjab, alcohol is the maximally abused substance by more than two million people, followed by tobacco which is consumed by more than 1.5 million people, finds the latest study by the Chandigarh-based Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

The abuse of opioids is by 1.7 lakh individuals, followed by cannabinoids as well as sedative-inhalant stimulants. The latter are largely a class of pharmacological or prescription drugs being used illicitly.

As per the State of Punjab Household Survey and statewide NCD STEPs Survey by the PGIMER, the projected number of overall substance use in Punjab is 15.4 per cent.

Coming out in support of the new liquor policy, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the government has targeted to generate Rs 9,600 crore as against Rs 6,200 crore in the last fiscal.

He said earlier liquor purchased from Haryana used to be sold in Punjab. “The days of the liquor mafia are over now,” he added.

Responding to Delhi’s lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inquire into the Delhi government’s excise policy, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said the AAP government’s links with the liquor cartel would soon be exposed in Punjab too.

In Punjab also Kejriwal has tried to replicate the Delhi model which would soon be exposed, he added.

Crime

CBI arrests proclaimed offender in Bengal gold trader’s murder in 2007

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New Delhi, July 14: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested proclaimed offender Shibu Kumar Singh, one of the accused in the 2007 Sukanta Ghosh murder case, an official said.

He was arrested from his hideout at Raiganj Road in Gorakhpur’s South Gandhi Ashram, where he was living under the assumed name Akhilesh Kumar Shahi, the CBI official said in a statement.

The case was registered on the order of Calcutta High Court delivered on August 27, 2009.

After investigation, the CBI filed charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet on December 31, 2010, and November 14,2011, respectively, against Shibu Kumar Singh and three others, the statement said.

Absconding for several years, Shibu Kumar Singh was declared a proclaimed offender on September 15, 2016.

The accused was apprehended using human intelligence and technical inputs, the CBI said.

After obtaining a transit warrant, the accused will be taken to Kolkata for production before the competent court on Wednesday, the CBI added.

Barrackpore-based gold merchant Sukanta Ghosh was murdered on July 6, 2007.

The police found his body lying in a pool of blood with 18 stab wounds in Jawahar Kunja of Latbagan.

The police, after initial investigation, found that there was suspicion of the involvement of some goons allegedly working under the patronage of a Left legislator and his brothers.

The investigators found that the victim was murdered for refusing to pay protection or extortion money to the local mafia linked to the MLA.

During the investigation, the High Court had even directed the CBI to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder.

Justice Samapti Chatterjee had instructed the CBI to frame the SIT to reinvestigate the case that had initially been probed by the state police.

The High Court had directed that the SIT should be led by a CBI officer of the rank of Joint Director who would be responsible for providing updates to facilitate a court-monitored probe.

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National News

NIA chargesheets 6th accused in CPI-Maoist Magadh zone revival, extortion case

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New Delhi, July 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its third chargesheet in a major conspiracy case, naming Chandan Kumar as the sixth accused in the revival of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit’s activities in the Magadh zone of Jharkhand and the systematic extortion of funds from contractors to procure arms and ammunition.

The chargesheet was submitted before the NIA Special Court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in connection with a case, which the anti-terror agency had registered suo motu in December 2021.

Chandan Kumar, arrested by the NIA from Mumbai in January 2026, is described as a key figure in the operation.

According to the NIA’s investigation, Chandan Kumar played an active role in raising funds for the CPI (Maoist) through extortion from contractors working in the region.

The agency’s probe revealed that these illicit funds were channelled through multiple routes to support the terror outfit’s activities, including the purchase of arms and ammunition.

Further investigations established that Chandan Kumar was also involved in efforts to revive the CPI (Maoist)’s Magadh Zone by mobilising and encouraging former cadres to re-join the organisation.

His alleged objective was to strengthen the group’s presence and propagate its ideology through violent means.

The chargesheet highlights that prominent SAC Member of CPI (Maoist), Pradyuman Sharma, along with other accused persons including Abhinav and Chandan Kumar, were part of the larger conspiracy to resurrect the banned organisation’s operational capabilities in the area.

The NIA’s findings point to a well-planned strategy by the Maoist group to regain influence in the Magadh region through financial extortion and cadre mobilisation.

The agency has gathered substantial evidence linking the accused to these terror-related activities.

This is the third charge-sheet filed by the NIA in the case so far, with six accused now formally charge-sheeted.

The central probe agency is continuing its investigation to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy, identify additional operatives, and trace the complete money trail.

The development underscores the NIA’s ongoing commitment to dismantling the financial and operational networks of Left-Wing Extremist organisations operating in the country. Officials indicated that further arrests and chargesheets may follow as the investigation progresses.

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Crime

Delhi Cyber Police bust mule bank account racket, arrest four in courier scam case

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New Delhi, July 14: The Cyber Police Station of North-East District, Delhi, has busted a mule bank account racket and arrested four persons in connection with a fraud case involving cheating of Rs 2.47 lakh on the pretext of a courier delivery company.

The arrested accused have been identified as Md. Arbaz Daniyal alias Labbu (20), Jimmy Bathla (41), Abdul Wadood (27), and Aniket Verma (25). Police said the accused were allegedly involved in operating and supplying mule bank accounts used to receive and transfer money obtained through cyber fraud.

According to the police, a case vide e-FIR No. 00194/2026 dated 16.06.2026 under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Cyber Police Station, North-East District, on the complaint of Satender, a resident of Babarpur, North-East Delhi, who works as Deputy General Manager (DGM) at Delhi Transco Limited (DTL).

Police said the complainant received a call from a fraudster impersonating a courier executive regarding the delivery of a parcel. The caller allegedly convinced him to dial a number and activate call and message forwarding on his mobile phone. As a result, incoming calls and SMSs, including banking OTPs, were diverted to numbers controlled by the fraudsters, allowing them to fraudulently withdraw Rs 2.47 lakh from his bank account.

During the investigation, police analysed financial transactions, technical evidence and field intelligence to trace the money trail. Investigators found that Rs 80,000 of the cheated amount had been transferred to a Nainital Bank account belonging to the accused Md. Arbaz Daniyal alias Labbu.

Police said further investigation revealed that the account was allegedly opened and operated as a mule account for receiving proceeds of cyber fraud. A dedicated team conducted raids in Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand and Lucknow, Mirzapur and Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, leading to the arrest of all four accused.

“Investigation has exposed a well-organised network engaged in procuring and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters for laundering cheated money,” Delhi Police said.

During interrogation, police said Md. Arbaz disclosed that he had opened the bank account on the instructions of Jimmy Bathla in exchange for Rs 50,000. Jimmy allegedly handed over the account to Abdul Wadood for Rs 1 lakh.

Police further said Abdul Wadood allegedly supplied the Nainital Bank account details to Aniket Verma, who then provided the account information to cyber fraudsters operating through Telegram for use in online financial frauds.

Four mobile phones, one from each accused, have been recovered during the investigation. Police said analysis of the seized devices revealed transaction details linked to the alleged cyber fraud network.

The arrests have provided important leads about the larger interstate cyber fraud syndicate, and efforts are underway to identify other members, trace additional fraudulent transactions and recover the remaining proceeds of crime.

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