Lucknow, 8 Nov: An apparently ordinary hand pump in the village of Basariya Dera in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district is unusual. Villagers refer to it as the magical hand pump since it produces country-made booze instead of water. Such miraculous hand pumps are quickly becoming the latest tactic used by UP’s booze mafias to avoid police and secure the sale of country-made liquor, which typically increases around election season.
In the previous month, the Uttar Pradesh excise department has confiscated Rs 2.5 lakh gallons of illegal liquor, recorded almost 9,000 cases, and arrested approximately 2,600 people. On Monday, the excise department, local police, and the district administration stormed Basariya Dera, which is part of the Mauranipur Police Circle in Jhansi.
When the hand pump poured liquor: “At first, it appeared to be a regular raid. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to locate the location where the booze is kept. We discovered a hand pump and little polythene bags when studying the place attentively. When we turned on the hand pump, instead of drawing water, it spewed the home-brewed booze. The liquor mafias connected the hand pump to the barrels of home-brewed liquor that were buried deep beneath the ground,” stated Pramod Kumar, district excise officer (DEO).
Jhansi police seize 9,749 liters of alcohol: Kumar stated that the crew was able to collect around 80 liters of country-made booze that had been stashed in barrels buried beneath the earth.
Officials from Jhansi’s excise department, on the other hand, believe Basariya Dera is not the only hamlet famed for producing country-made booze. Officials said Kabootra Dera, Datar Nagar, Napakheda, Panari, Padri, Katera, Chandigarh Khailaur, Marautha, Mahaiba, Rora, Bangra, Ashok Nagar, Sakrar, Faridabad, Farida, Basariya, Sidhnagar Itayal, Bundera Kala, Tondol, Goramchhiya, Markua, Dasna, Devri, Sighpura, Bhakaura, Takori, Kakarbai, Karari Ambabai and others are selling illegal booze and are regarded as a safe sanctuary for tipplers. According to Jhansi’s DEO, in the previous month alone, 139 cases of country-made liquor were recorded, and 9,749 liters of alcohol were seized.
Hand pump trend first seen in MP: According to top excise authorities, hand pumps were first installed in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhanpura hamlet in 2022, where police collected hundreds of gallons of illicit booze. This practice of keeping and selling illegal booze gradually became a tried and proved tactic for UP liquor mafias.
Illegal booze to sway voters: Interestingly, during election season, the tendency of making and selling unlawful country-made booze, which also helps political parties court voters, grows.
The UP excise department is claimed to have made intricate measures to keep a check on the booze mafias in anticipation of the supply of country-manufactured illicit whiskey in the neighboring poll-bound state of Madhya Pradesh and in areas of UP where the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be conducted in 2024.
“We have increased the number of checkpoints on the UP borders to around 13.” “We have increased highway checks and have enlisted the help of Dhaba (restaurant) owners and village Pradhans to keep a check on the sale and purchase of illicit liquor,” said Jainendra Upadhyay, Joint Excise Commissioner (enforcement), excise department, UP.
