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Amid election frenzy in Bihar, 10,000 litres of alcohol seized in 40 days
Police said the driver was supposed to hand over the truck to another driver in Kishanganj who would take it to its final destination in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
Two days before the assembly election in Bihar’s Kishanganj district, police seized a huge consignment of smuggled alcohol worth lakh of rupees from a truck near Dumaria under Kishanganj police station in the district late Wednesday night.
The bottles were packed in 405 cartons. The liquor was supposed to reach Bihar to “impact” the elections, police claimed. Despite prohibition imposed in the State, over 7.99 lakh litres of liquor have been seized in Bihar so far ahead of the third phase of polls for 78 Assembly seats, leaving authorities astounded.
Using alcohol to woo the electorate is not new to politics. A senior police officer said that based on directions of the Election Commission of India, they have become active in cracking down on the illegal use of alcohol during elections.
“The liquor mafia in the dry state has suddenly become more active in smuggling alcohol as it is often used by politicians to lure voters”, the official said.
Police said that the Samastipur-bound truck was coming from West Bengal and its driver said that the vehicle was carrying sand. The driver identified as Mulinder Singh a resident of Bidupur in Vaishali was arrested.
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Kishanganj’s superintendent of police Kumar Ashish said that during interrogation the driver got the “assignment” in West Bengal and was supposed to hand over the truck to another driver who would take it to its final destination in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
The SP said the Kishanganj police have seized around 10,000 litres of alcohol and arrested 70 people since the model code of conduct came into force on September 25. Police have also lodged 89 FIRs.
Police said that the kingpin is yet to be identified. “Our probe suggests the role of a professional gang. The liquor mafias are coming up with innovative methods of smuggling to Bihar and we need to be smarter than them”, said a police officer.
