A CORRESPONDENT
BISWANATH CHARIALI: Operations against illicit liquor and illegal liquor hubs have been intensified in Biswanath district. In recent days, huge quantities of illicit liquor and liquor coming from Arunachal Pradesh have been seized by the Excise Department and Biswanath Police.
At least 1,028 cartons of liquor and nine cartons of beer for sale in Arunachal Pradesh, and 19,862 litres of country made liquor have been seized or destroyed by the excise department and police. In addition, four vehicles carrying illegal liquor have been seized till now, three persons have been arrested and fine worth Rs. 16,000 has been collected. Several vehicles carrying Arunachal liquor have been intercepted and seized since then, the most recent one being the seizure of a truck on Friday morning at around 1 am. Huge quantities of Arunachal liquor, hidden under bags containing potatoes, were seized and one person was arrested.
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Biswanath, Pranab Kumar Sarmah, held a review meeting of the excise department on Thursday and took stock of the progress of implementation of the Guardian Minister's order. Additional Deputy Commissioner (in charge of Excise department) Miftahuddin Ahmed, who is personally monitoring the operations said, "The operations are continuing at a break-neck speed across the district. The progress in destroying illegal liquor hubs and also operations against Arunachal liquor has been very satisfactory. Raids are being conducted day and night at suspected locations by both excise department and police."
On his recent visit to Biswanath on July 9, the district's Guardian Minister Pijush Hazarika had ordered the excise department and the police to destroy all illegal liquor hubs within three days. Biswanath's Guardian Secretary, Rajesh Prasad too had recently held a meeting with the excise department of Biswanath and North Lakhimpur districts and had instructed to keep a strict vigil on movement of Arunachal liquor.
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