Probe ordered into illegal liquor trade in Assam

GUWAHATI:

Assam Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya has directed the department to conduct an inquiry into the illegal liquor trade following the arrest of two persons and the recovery of a huge consignment of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the Sonapur area near here.

Sleuths of the Excise Intelligence Bureau (EIB), acting on a tip-off, had on Wednesday night, intercepted a vehicle carrying the consignment with an unspecified quantity of liquor at Tetelia and arrested the two persons after they produced invalid challans.

An official communiqué here informed that the duo, identified as Ranjan Daimary and Habibul Haque, was caught illegally ferrying the consignment on a truck (bearing registration number AS-01-GC 4197) sourced from the factory of Himalayan Distillery Pvt Limited at Ambher Gaon in the 12th Mile area.

The consignment was to be dispatched to Borgohain Enterprises Bonded Warehouse Pvt Ltd in Mariani in Upper Assam’s Jorhat district.

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Based on the statements of Daimary and Haque, a search was carried out to catch two more persons, Digonta Neog and Dinesh Rabha who are reportedly absconding. EIB officials also raided their houses in the 12th Mile area.

The Excise Minister further asked the authorities to take strict action against the concerned factory officer-in-charge and Kamrup Metro enforcement in-charge in this regard.

In another instance, a special excise team led by Excise Superintendent, Kamrup Metro, Debojit Nath detected an illegal bottling plant at 14th Mile and recovered 918 cases of IMFL, approximately 4000 litres of extra neutral alcohol and machinery for bottling plants.