1,698 illicit liquor centres raided in three days

COLOMBO: Liquor bars, shops and outlets in the country will continue to be closed until May 5. These centres were closed on April 29 in view of Vesak.

Although the liquor shops and bars were closed by law, raids carried out by the officials of the Excise Department has been able to take into custody around 1,850 persons for violating the law. The raids were carried out by about 400 officers working in the department spread around the country on the instructions of the Commissioner General of Excise Parakrama Ekanayake.

According to a spokesman of the department, raids carried out from April 29 to May 1 has detected 1,698 selling points and the goods seized is valued at Rs. 10.21 million.

Those taken into custody for violating the law has been granted bail, and legal action would be instituted by the Department, sources added.

The breakdown of the raids are as follows:

Central Province - 276
Southern Province - 250
North Western Province - 223
Northern Province - 50
Eastern Province - 91
Uva Province - 101
Colombo district - 89
Kalutara district - 153
Gampaha district - 136

Sources added that the officers had carried out 892 raids on April 29, 515 raids on April 30 and 291 raids on May 1 covering the whole country.

During this period 100 illicit manufacturing centres, 771 persons who were involved in the selling of arrack and 82 persons who had stocked liquor for the purpose of selling during this period were taken into custody.