Chandigarh (The Hawk): In order to strengthen collaborative operations between the Excise Department and the police against the illicit liquor trade and to raise public awareness of the threat, Excise Department and Punjab Police officials met here on Thursday, according to officials. Gurjot Singh Kaler, AIG for Excise and Taxation, reported that in addition to giving the necessary instructions to the concerned officials in accordance with Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam's guidelines, discussions were held during the meeting to further sensitise the excise police about the seriousness of ongoing excise issues, improve the coordination between the police and excise officials, speed up the ongoing investigations, and make the excise police hi-tech to meet new challenges. On the model of the district police, all excise police in-charges shall post a duty officer above the rank of head constable daily for 24 hours and record his entry in the diary. Four to five policemen shall always be present in the office for emergency duty. Kaler stated during the meetings that the excise police should not conduct a raid without accompanying an employee or officer of the excise department. According to him, excise police officials have been required to inform the headquarters of any significant developments in high-profile cases. In order to realise the Rangla Punjab aim of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government, Kaler emphasised the importance of raising public knowledge about the illicit liquor trade. He stated the Excise Department and the Excise Police would soon launch an awareness campaign against it. (Inputs from ...