Madhya Pradesh excise team attacked during illegal liquor raid, given death threats

An excise team conducting an illegal liquor seizure in Satna alleged abuse, assault and threats from three men. The complaint also said the team vehicle was stoned as police registered a case and began investigating.

In Short

• 48 pouches of country-made liquor recovered from Lavkush Singh's house
• Vehicle rear glass broken by stones during escape of excise team
• FIR registered against three under multiple sections, police investigating

An excise department team faced assault, abuse and threats while carrying out action against illegal liquor in Mahdya Pradesh's Satna district on Friday. Police have registered an FIR against three people.

According to the complaint, the excise team received information late on September 11 that Lavkush Singh was selling illegal liquor in a village. The team reached the spot and, during a search, claimed to have recovered 48 pouches of country-made liquor.

During the action, Lavkush Singh, Hariom Singh and Murat Saket started abusing the excise personnel. The complaint states that the three opposed the action, obstructed government work and assaulted the employees. They also threatened to kill the officials if they returned to conduct another liquor-related action.

Excise department constable Shankar Prajapati said the team had gone to conduct a seizure operation when some unidentified people and members of the household created a disturbance, abused the officials and attempted to assault them. He said that when the team tried to leave, some people threw stones at their vehicle, breaking its rear window.

Prajapati said the vehicle was a Bolero belonging to the excise department. He placed the incident at around 6:15 pm, saying it occurred at about 6 pm.

He said the team could not inform the police force in time, which prevented police personnel from reaching the spot during the incident.

According to Prajapati, the person whose premises the team had gone to search was Lavkush Singh, while some of his friends, including a person identified as Hariom, joined the disturbance. He said they abused the team and obstructed the seizure operation, initially arguing that no such action could be taken before becoming increasingly aggressive.

Prajapati said the group picked up stones and sticks and appeared ready to attack the team. As the officials were leaving, someone threw a stone at the vehicle from behind, breaking its rear glass.

Prajapati also said the department had not yet received information from the police and that he would provide details once such information was received.

Following the complaint, Rampur Baghelan police registered a case against Lavkush Singh Patel, Hariom Singh and Murat Saket under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police are investigating the case.

- Ends
With inputs Venkatesh Dwivedi