Illegal liquor sale: Excise department, Jharkhand police intensify crackdown

RANCHI: With the Holi festival approaching, the excise department along with Jharkhand police has intensified crackdown on the production and sale of illegal liquor in order to prevent hooch tragedy. In a joint operation conducted at Namkum on Thursday, the excise department and police recovered several bottles and caps belonging to costly brands.
Excise department officer Pradeep Kumar said, “It is very likely that the cheaper quality liquor smuggled from Arunachal Pradesh were brought here and filled in bottles of expensive brands and sold in the market.”
Locals said the miscreants used to arrive by car late in the night and leave the place with the filled bottles.“During the Holi season, liquor consumption increases. Our focus is on saving the people from consuming spurious liquor,” he added.
Meanwhile, excise department commissioner Karn Satyarthi issued a slew of instructions to his officers across the state to prevent the illegal sale of liquor. The officers would carry out checking at dhabas and the sites were illegal seizures were made before. “We are monitoring the situation daily.
All the districts have been asked to put up border check posts to prevent movement of illegal liquor. The habitual offenders are being rounded up. We have also issued warning to the licensed shops to stop illegal dilution of liquor stocked by them,” he stated.
The excise department has registered 2,863 cases related to the illegal sale of liquor in the state since December 23, 2022. Over 1,00 persons have been arrested, while 1,493 are absconding.