Bhubaneswar: Excise inspector alleges cop-liquor mafia link in Puri

BHUBANESWAR: An inspector of the excise department has dropped a bombshell by accusing Puri police of collecting kickbacks from the liquor and ganja mafia. Excise inspector Sanjay Panda on Saturday shot off a letter to commissioner (excise) Ashish Singh drawing his and the Puri administration's attention to the alleged nexus between the police and liquor vendors.
The matter came to light on Sunday evening after Panda reportedly shared the official letter on his Facebook page, creating a flutter in the government. "Whenever we raid illicit liquor and drug dens, the vendors and peddlers say they pay huge amounts of money every month to the personnel of different police stations.
The offenders don't care about the excise squads. As a responsible officer, I feel demotivated while doing my duty with limited staff, less salary and no medals unlike police officers," Panda's letter addressed to excise commissioner Ashish Singh read. However, Panda's own department (excise) rubbished his charges. "We, along with the police, have been frequently busting illicit liquor and drug trading rackets. Panda's allegations are baseless. His family has shown us some prescriptions of his treatment for mental illness," Amarendra Jena, excise superintendent (Puri), said.
Puri police also denied the allegations.