Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): After Chief Minister Mohan Yadav gave a free hand to eradicate illicit liquor trading on Wednesday, a joint operation was carried out on Thursday. Banda Municipal Council and police bulldozed five houses and premises belonging to three traders of illicit liquor, said an official.
Because of spurious liquor, as many as 30 people had lost their lives in Banda block of Sagar district in the past few days.
The administration swung into action after getting a free hand from the CM following his visit to Sagar on Wednesday.
A joint team of the Banda Municipal Council and police removed five illegal constructions on government land.
These included three structures belonging to Manish Lodhi, one belonging to Chandrabhan Rajput and one belonging to Ashish Sahu. Houses, permanent buildings and warehouses were among the structures demolished.
Manish alias Yashwant Lodhi, resident of Ward 12, Banda, had encroached upon cremation ground land and constructed a single-storey permanent structure, which was being used as an illegal warehouse.
Additionally, another single-storey permanent structure had been built for non-residential storage purposes.
Similarly, encroachment was found on land designated as rocky terrain; illegal possession had been established in the area.
Another suspect, Chandrabhan Singh, resident of Tatarwara, tehsil Shahgarh, had constructed an illegal single-storey permanent residential house on government land.
Likewise, a permanent house and a gated courtyard encroached upon by suspect Ashish Sahu, resident of Ward 11, Banda, were found and subsequently razed to the ground.
According to the administrative inquiry, the suspects had long been occupying cremation ground and government land, operating their liquor business from these illegal premises.
The SDM, tehsildar and chief municipal officer along with a large police force were present during the operation.
Notices seeking explanations for the encroachments were served 24 hours before the action.
However, the suspects did not submit any response within the stipulated period, following which the administration proceeded as per the prescribed rules.
