Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal on Saturday attacked the state govt over the Pune hooch tragedy, alleging that the Home Department was being run by a “havaldar”, and said the police department was unable to effectively combat illegal activities.He demanded the appointment of a full-time Home Minister and held the govt responsible for the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis currently also held the Home portfolio. He made the remarks after 22 people in Pune died after consuming spurious liquor.Three weeks ago, the TOI reported about the govt GR where the state govt reconstituted a local-level committee to check illegal liquor manufacturing and fix local officials accountable if such activities were found in their jurisdictions.Linking the deaths of 22 people in the spurious liquor tragedy in Pune to what Sapkal described as a wider criminal nexus, Sapkal claimed that drugs entering Maharashtra from Gujarat, Jamtara-style cybercrime operations and other illegal rackets were flourishing with the blessings of the Home Department.Addressing a press conference at Tilak Bhavan, in Mumbai Sapkal alleged that Fadnavis had effectively abandoned the police force’s motto of protecting the good and punishing the wicked. He claimed that the govt had begun taking action only after the Pune tragedy triggered widespread public outrage and was now carrying out enforcement drives to protect its image.Sapkal said the govt woke up only after 22 people lost their lives in the Pune liquor tragedy and has since started demolishing illicit liquor units.He argued that such illegal distilleries did not emerge overnight, pointing out that Maharashtra has around 500 towns and 43,000 villages where illegal liquor dens and other unlawful businesses operate openly in several areas.On May 11, the state govt issued a GR reconstituting taluka-level committees to strengthen the crackdown on the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor. The GR fixed direct accountability on the officer-in-charge of the local police station and the State Excise Inspector concerned for any illegal liquor activity in their jurisdiction. The committees were originally constituted in 2005 to monitor and prevent the production and sale of illicit liquor through regular reviews at the taluka level.
