Ranpur: Upping their ante, people in the block imposed penalties on five bootleggers after they caught them red-handed while they were preparing liquor at an illegal country liquor distilling unit in the jungle in Narisinghpur village under this police limits in Nayagarh district Thursday.
The villagers detained the bootleggers and brought them over to the village.
They conducted a trial of the five at a village committee meeting at night and imposed a penalty of Rs 16,000 on each of them after finding them guilty of the offence.
While detaining the bootleggers, the villagers seized over 6,000 litres of fermented brew, drums and storing containers from the spot.
All the five accused were set free after they submitted a written declaration promising that they will not get involved in sale and preparation of country liquor in future.
Earlier, villagers had detained a person and had fined him Rs 55,000 at a gram sabha June 28, night. The incident had triggered panic among the people engaged in illegal liquor trade.
Sources said some of the families in this village earn a living by preparing and selling country liquor in the area. The villagers raided the dens after three persons recently died after consuming spurious liquor.
Angered over the development, the villagers issued a ban on preparation and sale of country liquor in the area and warned of imposing penalty for violation.
The villagers claimed that liquor business has seen a spurt in recent days due to alleged connivance of the bootleggers with the excise officials.
PNN