Residences of Punjab excise officials raided by ED

Chandigarh, Sep 07: A team of Enforcement Directorate officials on Tuesday raided the residences of the Punjab excise commissioner and a joint commissioner, sources said.
However, it could not be ascertained in connection with which cases these raids were conducted, news agency PTI reported.

The ED sleuths conducted searches at IAS officer and Punjab Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam's residence in Sector 20 here and that of joint commissioner (excise) Naresh Dubey in Haryana's Panchkula.

Both Roojam and Dubey were said to have worked on framing Punjab's excise policy which was implemented from July. The Aam Aadmi Party formed the government in Punjab in March this year.

Roojam and Dubey could not be immediately contacted.

The development comes days after raids conducted by the CBI at the premises of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia over the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

In July, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22. Following this, the AAP-led Delhi government withdrew the new liquor policy.

Opposition parties in Punjab had also demanded a probe by the CBI and the ED, alleging a scam in the state's excise policy.

The opposition leaders had alleged that the state's excise policy was a "replica" of the policy in Delhi and was "tailor-made" to select a few contractors.