2 get life term for brewing toxic liquor

Amroha: The court of additional district judge (ADJ-III) here on Tuesday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for manufacturing illicit liquor and adding toxic chemicals like urea and ammonium chloride to the spirit.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹500 each on the convicts. Two other accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence.On Dec 23, 2012, a joint team of police and excise officials raided illicit liquor manufacturing sites near the Ganga in Mukarampur village under Mandi Dhanaura police station of Amroha district. Two men -- Parmeet Singh (35) from Mirzapur village in Meerut and Makhan Chopra (45) from Chandra Farm village in Mandi Dhanaura -- were arrested, while two others escaped.Amroha SP Lakhan Singh Yadav said large quantities of spurious liquor, along with 3 kg urea and 1 kg ammonium chloride used to make the spirit toxic and more potent, were recovered.A case was registered against the accused under Section 60 of the Excise Act and Section 272 of IPC. The absconding accused were later arrested and all four were sent to jail.After hearing the case for over a decade and examining five witnesses, the court convicted Parmeet Singh and Makhan Chopra, while acquitting the other two due to insufficient evidence.During the trial, five witnesses from the police and excise department testified in court, and more than 150 hearings took place.