Meerut: A joint raid by UP and Uttarakhand police has been conducting raids since Friday evening to arrest the main suspects, belonging to the nomadic Sahaisi tribe living in and around Balupur village in Uttarakhand's Roorkee area, even as the death toll in hooch tragedy continues to rise. Meanwhile, in a massive crackdown across Saharanpur district, 35 cases have been lodged against people involved in sale and manufacture of illicit liquor and 39 arrests have been made so far. This comes after excise and police department initiated a 15-day state-wide crackdown following the hooch tragedy.Saharanpur SSP Dinesh Kumar P claimed that the main accused will be booked under NSA. "We have been conducting raids in balupur area with our Uttarakhand counterparts," said the SSP.UP's Khadar region, along the Gangetic belt in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor and Amroha, is infamous for illicit production of country-made liquor. On the directions of higher ups, district police chiefs in the state initiated a massive crackdown since Friday evening.In Muzaffarnagar, the crackdown concentrated in Khadar area under the jurisdiction of Ramraj, Kakrauli, Purkazi, Mirapur, and Bhopa police stations. According to Muzaffarnagar SSP, as many as 133 raids were conducted across the district in which 19 accused were arrested. More than 600 litres of illicit liquor and equipments used for production of liquor were recovered.In a similar crackdown in Bijnor, more than 500 litres of illict liquor were seized in raids and 27 people have been arrested.The nexus of local liquor mafias runs deep in the state police department, said a source.

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