Shimla, Nov. 22 -- The Excise department has intensified its crackdown on illicit liquor across the state. Special teams are conducting raids and have registered 523 cases so far during this financial year, a release said.

The department has seized 21,637.166 litres of illicit liquor and 33,308.900 litres of 'lahan' from various locations across the state since April. 'Lahan' is a locally brewed liquor widely used in rural areas of the state.

Last month alone, 309.340 litres of illicit liquor and 12 litres of lahan were seized in the southern region of Shimla, 2,678.225 litres of illicit liquor and 14 litres of lahan in the central region of Mandi and 529.150 litres of liquor and 4,870 litres of lahan in the northern region of Palampur....