Huge quantity of illegal liquor worth Rs 40 lakh seized in Assam amid COVID-19 lockdown:

Guwahati, April 24: Amid the Coronavirus lockdown, Assam Excise department has seized a huge quantity of illegal liquor worth of Rs 40 lakh in Assam’s Darrang district.

Based on secret inputs, a team of Assam Excise Intelligence Bureau and police had jointly launched an operation at the Mangaldoi area and seized two trucks near a petrol pump at Mangaldoi on Thursday night.

During the search operation, the Excise department officials had found 2400 cases of illegal liquor worth Rs 40 lakh which were transported from Arunachal Pradesh.

The team had seized the trucks with illegal liquor and arrested four persons in connection with it.

The Excise department team chased down the vehicles bearing registration numbers NL-01 L-6374 and RJ-52G A-1305(both vehicles are being blacklisted by various RTOs in different states) after a long run of 4 hours with the help of Mangaldoi police amidst the lockdown.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered at Mangaldoi police station and the Assam Excise department also registered separate cases.

Assam Excise department PRO Sailen Pandey said that, the seized liquors were illegally transported from Arunachal Pradesh amid lockdown.

“Our team had conducted a successful operation and seized a huge quantity of illegal liquor worth Rs 40 lakh. Four persons have been arrested in connection with it. We have registered a case under the sections of the Assam Excise Act and Assam Excise Rules,” Sailen Pandey said.

On the other hand, Assam Excise minister Primal Suklabaidya has directed the department officials to launch massive operations against the Operandi who run illegal liquor businesses across the state.