10,858 litres of liquor seized every day in Bihar in 2023

Police registered 72,062 FIRs (first information reports) and arrested 1.43 lakh people and seized 17,183 vehicles (trucks/containers) in liquor related cases.

The “dry” state of Bihar reported seizure of 39.63 lakh litres of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and countrymade liquor in 2023, which comes to 10,858 litres daily, according to the data released by the police headquarters (PHQ) on Monday.

Seized liquor bottles being destroyed in Patna. (HT archive)

Of the total seizure, IMFL accounted for 25.09 lakh litres and countrymade liquor 14.53 lakh litres.

Police registered 72,062 FIRs (first information reports) and arrested 1.43 lakh people and seized 17,183 vehicles (trucks/containers) in liquor related cases.

Additional director general (ADG) of police (headquarters) Jitendra Singh Gangwar, while talking to reporters, said that compared to 2022, the number FIRs registered in liquor related cases was 25% lower in 2023 while the number of arrests went down by 16%.

However, the volume of liquor seized in 2023 was 19% more than in 2022, during which police seized 33.27 lakh litres of liquor — 18.63 lakh litres of IMFL, 14.64 litres of countrymade liquor.

In 2022, police registered 96,157 FIRs and arrested 1.71 lakh people on the charges of drinking, smuggling or manufacturing liquor.

“Around 180 anti-liquor task force teams, 25 trained dog squads, drones and speedboats are being used to crack down on those involved in liquor smuggling in the state. Several steps have been taken to check smuggling of liquor in riverine areas,” he said.

Gangwar said anti-liquor task force teams have been created in every district and at least 5-6 such teams are moving within each district with a vehicle.

The ADG said that since November 2016 till November 2023 — Bihar imposed total prohibition in April 2016 — 1,522 people have been convicted in 1,215 cases.

A total of 224 people from outside Bihar have been arrested in the last three years. Jharkhand tops the list (75), followed by Haryana (57) Uttar Pradesh (34), West Bengal (24), Punjab (14), New Delhi (7). Four each are from Rajasthan and Assam.

Liquor consignments mostly come to Bihar from states like Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and also from neighbouring Nepal. The spirit and other liquor-making material are being brought from neighbouring states, resulting in hooch tragedies.