Jaora: 29 road-side dhabas demolished for serving illicit liquor, drugs

JAORA (RATLAM): In a major action, local administration accompanied by local police demolished as many as 29 dhabas in Jaora tehsil of Ratlam district on Friday for serving illicit liquor and drugs. The dhabas had been constructed without prior permission. Cases have been registered against the owners of these demolished dhabas under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

In a joint operation, officials of the local administration and police carried out the demolition drive against “illicit liquor and drug mafia” by destroying 12 dhabas situated Bargar Panchayat, 11 under Hasanpalia area and 6 dhabas under Kanchankhedi Panchayat. Among the illegal structures demolished by the district administration, the team also seized a red sand boa snake from a dhaba under Hasanpalia area owned by Gulam Hussain Ali and handed it over to the Forest Department.

Notably, as many as 180 structures have been identified for illegally selling liquor and drugs to consumers between Hassanpalia area and Manankheda village. Out of these, 29 such structures have been targeted for their involvement in the illegal trade of drugs and liquor. They had been constructed without permission. Following instructions of State CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a joint team of revenue and police launched this demolition drive under the leadership of SP Abhishek Tiwari and SDM Himanshu Prajapati.

Giving information, SDM said that demolished dhabas had been constructed without permission from the respective panchayats under Section 55 of Panchayati Raj.  The panchayats issued notices seeking relevant permissions for the construction of the structures and on the failure of dhaba owners to produce the documents the structures were razed.  Drive against those who are involved in the illegal trade of illicit liquor, and drugs (Narcotics) would continue in future.