Jamshedpur, May 22: Jharkhand Excise department’s Jamshedpur office has unearthed more than one unauthorised IMFL companies and seized illicit liquor and liquor-making equipment worth over Rs 10 lakhs, latest seizure being made at Babudih Bustee in Sidhgora thana area late on Friday night.
Sub-inspector Mahendra Deogam of Excise department confirmed that liquor mafias have started making duplicate IMFL for making money during the lockdown.
The Excise Department of the East Singhbhum district has also formed a Quick Response Team (QRT) of respective police stations to nail down illegal liquor joints flourishing in different parts of the city. As part of the initiative joint surprise raids would be carried out at liquor selling points in the evening while production points would see raids in the morning.
The Excise commissioner pointed out in the event of a surprise inspection of the stock, the liquor shop-owners will not take the risk of getting nabbed selling duplicate liquor, because the inspection teams have been instructed to check the batch number of the liquor bottles being sold at the counter.
Notably, the steel city has a history of manufacturing duplicate liquor as the district police had in the past busted several rackets of duplicate liquor manufacturing units, especially from the localities like Bagbera, Jugsalai and Kadma. Knowledgeable sources maintain that the racketeers of duplicate liquors use to do the rebottling of the brand which has the maximum demands, and when the liquor shop owners do a brisk business on such occasions, they tend to sell the duplicate stuff.
The Excise department will continue their extensive drive in the district to stop illegal sale of liquor. “We have intensified search operations and joint raids along with police, forest and revenue departments across the district,” said an official. In the latest raid, the Jharkhand Excise department’s Jamshedpur office unearthed a mini-factor of a ‘foreign’ liquor factory.