Police, excise officials raid bar for serving liquor to minors

BATHINDA: Police personnel and officials of the Excise Department on Saturday raided a bar The Brew Bukhara located in Mittal Mall here

Updated At : 02:50 PM Jan 20, 2019 IST

Police officers and an official of the Excise Department question an employee at a bar in Mittal Mall in Bathinda on Saturday. Photo: Vijay Kumar

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 19

Police personnel and officials of the Excise Department on Saturday raided a bar, ‘The Brew Bukhara’, located in Mittal Mall here.

According to information, the police had received a tip-off that the bar was allegedly serving liquor to minors. Acting on it, Inspector Davinder Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station, with a police team raided the bar. Inspector Varun Goyal from the Excise Department was also present with the cops.

During the raid, which continued for around three hours, excise officials checked the record of liquor served in the bar. The police also caught several young boys and girls, including a 14-year-old girl, having liquor at the bar. The police took them to the Civil Hospital to get their medical examination conducted.

Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Kulwinder Verma said they had conducted a raid at the bar. He added that during the checking, licence was found genuine, while the team was matching the stock in the register. The ETO added that if any irregularity was found, action would be taken against the guilty as per the law.

SSP Dr Nanak Singh confirmed that a case had been registered in this regard as it was found that liquor was served to a minor girl at the bar.

The legal age to consume liquor is 25 years.

A parent, on condition of anonymity, said he and his wife found it disturbing to see liquor being served freely to underage youths at different clubs and lounges.

Dr Vitull K Gupta, a social activist, said alcohol was responsible for most of the accidents and crimes.

He said the administration should ensure that persons below the age of 25 years should not be served liquor and those violating the law should be penalised.

He said under the Punjab Intoxicants License and Sales Orders -1956, a licensee shall not sell liquor to any person below the age of 25 years.

The violators can be prosecuted and their licence can be suspended, he added.

Dr Gupta said heavy penalties were imposed in foreign countries every day. But in India, outrage was not enough in society due to the poor implementation of rules regarding the sale of liquor to minors, he added.

Police had a tip-off

According to information, the police had received a tip-off that the bar was serving liquor to minors. Acting on it, Inspector Davinder Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station, along with a police team raided the bar. Inspector Varun Goyal from the Excise Department was also present with the cops.