SET gets two more months to probe liquor scam:Home Minister Anil Vij

The term of a Special Enquiry Team set up by the Haryana government to probe the alleged theft of liquor seized by the police and the excise department has been extended by two months, state Home Minister Anil Vij said on Saturday. The SET headed by senior IAS officer T C Gupta was to submit its report to the government by May 31.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Mohd Akil will replace ADGP Subhash Yadav, who is due to retire on May 31, as a member of the SET, according to Vij. "We had asked T C Gupta as to how much time it will take to complete the enquiry and he wrote that he needs two more months, the minister told reporters.

On May 6, Vij had announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team following the alleged theft of seized liquor from two godowns in Sonipat district. However, the government finally formed a Special Enquiry Team (SET) . Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had claimed the SET lacked powers and asked "whether the Khattar government is conducting an inquiry into the liquor scam or resorting to a cover-up".

Gupta is the additional chief secretary in the department of power, employment and renewable energy. The other members of the SET are Subhash Yadav, additional director general of police, State Vigilance Bureau, Gurgaon, and Vijay Singh, additional excise and taxation commissioner.

As per the order issued by the Home Department, the probe team will also check the actual availability of stock in all warehouses and godowns that were sealed by the excise department during the last two years for any violation. The SET was required to examine cases of seizure of illicit/non-excise duty paid liquor in Haryana from the period, April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, both by the police and the excise department separately, with special reference to the action taken and the fines imposed by the excise department pursuant to the recovery of the liquor.

It was also asked to collect and collate the result of the investigation of the FIRs registered from March 15 till May 10 in different parts of the state for pilferage of liquor from the godowns and also from the Malkhanas (strong rooms) of police stations, as per the order.

The Haryana Police had recently seized Rs 97 lakh in cash, two pistols and three mobile phones besides a sports utility vehicle following a raid in a house to nab the prime accused in the case of missing liquor stocks from the two godowns in Sonipat. The Sonipat police raided the house of accused Bhupinder Singh here, but he managed to escape. However, a day later he surrendered before the police. The godowns in Sonipat from where the liquor stocks were reported missing were stated to be owned by Bhupinder Singh's wife.