190 polling stations vulnerable in Assam: Excise department

* Blame it on liquor: Excise

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: From the point of view of glut of liquor, as many as 190 polling stations in the State have been tagged "vulnerable". Jorhat and Golaghat districts, on the other hand, are considered "vulnerable" for the glut of "illicit liquor (sulai)".

This is an observation from the State Excise department. According to sources in the department, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dhubri and other districts bordering Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have been tagged "vulnerable" based on large-scale seizure of illegal liquor, including spurious ones.

The Department has held coordinating meetings with its counterparts in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura to check the menace of illegally transported liquor and illicit liquor. The States concerned are coordinating through the share of Excise data and intelligence inputs among their respective police, CID and the BIEO (Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offence), Vigilance and Anti-corruption, Narcotic Centre Bureau, the Directorates of Enforcement personnel.

Restrictions have also been imposed on companies doing business (liquor) deterring them from fraudulent liquor transportation between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and similar other activities, said sources in the department.

It has been further learnt that an intensified monitoring mechanism to keep an eye on the import, maintenance of stocks and sale of rectified spirit/denatured spirit/molasses to prevent diversion of spurious liquor/sulai etc., is in place. An excise check-post is operating on the Meghalaya border at Byrnihat to check the transportation of ENA (Extra Neutral Alcohol) that is used in brewing liquor. Similar check-posts have been also at work along the West Bengal border at Srirampur and Chagolia.

The State Excise department is also keeping in touch with its West Bengal counterparts.