GURUGRAM:An excise inspector in Haryana has been shifted to the department headquarters in Panchkula after an audio message surfaced in which he could be allegedly heard telling a liquor store employee to send bottles of scotch for the deputy chief minister's function for free.
Punitive action was initiated against the inspector when the liquor shop owner Vikram Yadav filed a complaint with the CM Window, the Home Minister and other senior officials.
The excise official was identified as Sandeep Lohan. District Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) Ravinder Singh confirmed his transfer and said an inquiry had been assigned to Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner Vijay Kumar into the matter.
"The inspector has been shifted to the headquarters. Further probe into the matter is underway," Singh said.
The complainant Vikram Yadav said that he owns a liquor shop near Bakhtawar Chowk in Sector 47 in Gurugram.
On August 14, Lohan rang up the liquor vend salesman and demanded six bottles of 15-year-old 'Glenfiddich' whiskey worth Rs Rs 5,500 each bottle to be delivered at a hotel as the minister was hosting a programme there.
"When the salesman refused to provide the liquor, Lohan reached the liquor vend on August 15 around 6.30 p.m. which was not his jurisdiction and sealed the shop by alleging that the shop was illegally opened on August 15 which was observed as a dry day," Yadav told IANS.
Yadav, however, said as per the excise policy liquor vends can be opened after 5 p.m. on August 15 and the shop was opened at the permitted time.
"The inspector earlier had also misbehaved with the liquor vend employees and used to get liquor without paying anything. We will soon file a complaint against Lohan at the state vigilance department," Yadav said.