Liquor Mafia Loots Lahaul: Shops Charge ₹50–₹500 Extra, Citizens Threatened for Protesting
Keylong/Shimla:
A full-blown liquor overpricing racket has cone to light in Lahaul-Spiti, where English Wine Shops are openly charging ₹50 to ₹500 above MRP — and threatening anyone who questions it.
Advocate Sudershan Thakur, who also a RYI activist has sounded the alarm, calling it a “law-and-order crisis created by liquor vendors minting illegal money.”
Acting on his complaint, Excise officials sent a dummy customer to the Kukumseri wine shop, where the salesman was caught overcharging.
A case was filed under the Excise Act. But instead of stopping, the malpractice continues across Keylong, Udaipur, Tindi and Darcha, with residents alleging intimidation and abuse by salesmen.
Under the Excise Policy 2025-26, any vend caught overcharging must be sealed for one to two days.
But with the Excise office sitting far away in Kullu and locals hinting at a shop–police nexus, enforcement is almost absent.
Thakur has urged the District Magistrate to immediately crack down on the racket, enforce sealing orders, and restore public trust—before the liquor mafia turns Lahaul into its personal gold mine.
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