Liquor smugglers to be booked under non-bailable charges

GUWAHATI: The state excise department has asked the district administrations to instruct enforcement authorities to book people found guilty of smuggling liquor into Assam under non-bailable sections of the IPC.
The recent directive comes in the wake of rise in liquor smuggling into the state from neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, leading to huge revenue loss. Raids carried out by CID, BIEO and the excise department over the last few months have led to the recovery of illegal liquor with fake labels worth over Rs 74 lakh from various places across the state.
The letter said, “The modus operandi in such offences is using fake labels and bottles smuggled from Arunachal Pradesh and to sell them in the local market.Most of these offences are bailable under the present excise act which is not sufficient to hinder such crimes. Therefore, you are requested to direct the authorities concerned to lodge FIRs for such offences under relevant sections of the IPC.” Enforcement agencies can now book an offender under serious charges of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust beside other charges under the excise act. “Further, if two or more persons are involved in such illegal acts, they can additionally be booked under sections of criminal conspiracy too,” it added.
The department had already suggested creation of special flying squads and checkpoints at certain transit routes.
“Excise enforcement points were set up at several places, including Badarduwa interstate borders in Lakhimpur district, Numuligarh Tiniali in Golaghat,Orang Charialiin Udalguri and Kaliabor in Nagaon district,” said Sailendra Pandey, PRO of the excise department.
Sources said smuggling of liquor from Arunachal has witnessed a sharp rise after the Meghalaya government increased taxes on liquor. “Due to low tax in the neighbouring state,there is a huge difference in liquor prices in Arunachal and Assam, making it a lucrative smuggling item,” a source said.
According to official records, the state excise department has registered a 21% rise in revenue earnings in the last financial year. In the 2015-2016 fiscal year,the department had registered a revenue income of Rs 799.51 crore. This went up to Rs 970 crore in 2016-2017, an increase of Rs 170.49 crore.