Khatkhati police seized 220 cases of illegal liquor in Bokajan

A Correspondent

BOKAJAN: In a major development, the Khatkhati police seized 220 cases of illegal liquor from a truck along the Assam-Nagaland border in East Karbi Anglong on Saturday.

As per reports, the police personnel manning the inter-State Khatkhati check post intercepted the truck based on a specific information and recovered 220 cases of illegal IMFL meant for sale only in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. The seized liquor was concealed under a secret compartment attached to the cabin of the truck. The approximate face value of the seized liquor is estimated to be around Rs 8 lakh. The liquor was meant to be smuggled into Nagaland.

Police have arrested the helper Islam Ali but the driver managed to escape. As per Islam, the consignment was supposed to be delivered to a person named Dharmendar at Ghorapti area of Dimapur close to the New Field Check Gate. Earlier on May 8, a container truck smuggling 70 case of illegal liquor concealed under secret compartment was seized in Sarupathar of Golagaht district under similar circumstances.

A couple of years back, the BIEO sleuths had raided as many as five specific locations in the Khatkhati area and made a seizure of over 70,000 cases of Arunachal sale IMFL after the department detected a severe drop in the sale of IMFL in the Wine Shops bordering Nagaland.

The Karbi Anglong police have also seized a number of trucks transporting illegal liquor from time to time. Liquor in the state of Arunachal Pradesh attracts less excise duty as compared to Assam and thus makes its lucrative for smugglers and bootleggers. Moreover, the NLTP Act, 1989, which prohibits the open sale of liquor in Nagaland, encourages bootleggers to smuggle liquor through well-organized syndicates into the State and to sell the liquor at skyrocketing prices.