Excise department books 97 violations ahead of LS polls

PANAJI: With the Lok Sabha election date of April 23 for Goa approaching closer, large quantities of liquor are being detected in the state.

The liquor seizures till date have swelled to 66,153 litres as a result of the raids carried out by police and the excise department. The seized consignment includes 60,221 litres confiscated by police and 5,932 litres impounded by excise inspectors and the combined value of the seized consignment is Rs 2.85 crore.

Police seizures are referred to the excise department, which checks whether the party is a licence holder or involved in illegal activity.

Speaking to this daily, excise commissioner Amit Satija said that 97 instances of violations have been booked by the department since the election code of conduct was enforced on March 10. He said the department has confiscated alcohol valued at Rs 13.5 lakh.

Satija said that the violations are of different types including operating beyond the time limit, possessing liquor beyond limits or not submitting transaction statement.

It is compulsory for all liquor operators to submit daily transaction statement of sales to the excise department during the code of conduct period.

According to Satija, the department has taken several preventive measures to ensure that leakages do not occur at the licence holder’s end.

“Every liquor manufacturer has been asked to install CCTV cameras in factory and at the wholesalers. The state has 263 wholesale licence holders and wherever inspectors have found no CCTV, the premises have been sealed,” said the commissioner. He said that the main intention behind monitoring is to prevent illegal sales in outlets located around border areas of up to five-km radius and next to railway stations.

The excise department has formed 21 flying squads to carry out surprise raids throughout the state of which eight squads are operating out of the head office in Panaji and 13 squads operate in the talukas. For minor violations, the department does not seize the liquor, explained Satija.

With liquor used by a common lure by candidates to entice voters, both, the police and the excise department are maintaining a strict vigil on its movement in the state.