20,587 excise cases registered

| | BHUBANESWAR | in Bhubaneswar

Principal Secretary, Excise, Nikunja Bihari Dhal has advised all the officials of the Directorate of Excise to curb illicitnarcotic drugs trade, besides keeping a vigil on ganja cultivation.

Dhal issued an advisory to the 31 Excise Superintendents, officials of Excise Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau (EIEB) and flying squads of the State, while reviewing the Excise Directorate’s activities recently.

While as many as 20,587 excise cases have been registered in four zones of the State, the department’s officials have been able to arrest total 17,196 persons and seize huge quantity of illicit country and foreign liquor, spirit, ganja, opium, bhang, brown sugar, etc from their possession during 2017-2018 financial year, the review meeting revealed.

The seizures during 2017-2018 financial year include 3,213 grams of brown sugar, 12,633 kg ganja,70 kg poppy straw, 1,66,750 litres of illicit distilled liquor, 1,161 litres fermented wash, 12,364 litres out-still liquor, 11,497 litres of beer, 8,060 kg bhang, 1,640 litres of spirit, 11,130 litres of Tadi and huge quantity of raw materials for fermentation.

The review also revealed that the highest amount of seizure of brown sugar and ganja has been made with arrest of 344 persons engaged in the illicit trade by officials of the EIEB.

While 307 cases have been registered under NDPS Act, the EIEB officials have destroyed ganja plants worth Rs 80 crore.

The EIEB, Central Division, Cuttack, has excelled in the State by registering 28 cases under NDPS Act and arresting 36 persons with the seizure of highest 1,760 grams of brown sugar.