Presence of 5-yr-old in liquor vend irks Faridkot DC

Faridkot Deputy Commissioner Dr S Karuna Raju lost his cool on Tuesday after spotting a five-year-old boy at a liquor vend. Along with other district officials,the DC was conducting surprise checks in the twin canals area near Faridkot to detect misuse of household LPG cylinders in commercial eating joints,when he saw the boy sitting inside a liquor vend.

Raju came down heavily on the vend supervisor,Surjeet Singh,who told him the boy had come with his father,a customer. The DC pulled up both Surjeet and the boy’s father. “As per law,a person bringing a minor to a liquor vend can be booked and handed over to the police right away. But just because there is a child with him,I am letting this man go with a warning,” he said. The supervisor was strictly warned against allowing people to come to the vend with their children.

Surjeet was booked for using household LPG cylinders at his vend for commercial purposes. District Food and Civil Supplies Officer Kulwant Kaur and inspectors Narinder Singh and Dinesh Kumar confiscated the cylinders.

The vend supervisor had to face more wrath when residents of nearby colonies complained of the garbage dumped outside by the vend. The DC said: “As per Section 144 imposed in the city,dumping of garbage in the open is not allowed and hence we have booked the vend owner for flouting this rule,too.”