The recent bust of a non-duty paid liquor (NDPL) smuggling racket with the alleged involvement of a Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) circle inspector and a police SI in West Godavari district appears to the tip of the iceberg as authorities have said that many government employees have been booked in liquor and sand smuggling cases in the State.
The accused include teachers, village secretariat staff, central forces, police and even the officials of the SEB which was set up by the government on May 15 to check the liquor and sand smuggling.
The police and the SEB officials have set up checkposts along the inter-State border to check smuggling of liquor from Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
“As many as 90 employees of various government departments have been caught while smuggling liquor from the neighbouring States so far. Most of the staff were caught red-handed while illegally transporting NDPL,” said SEB Commissioner Vineet Brijlal.
The SEB has registered 70 cases against government employees, including 15 in Kurnool, 13 in Guntur Urban, eight in West Godavari, nine in Krishna, eight in Vijayawada city, seven in Chittoor, six in Prakasam and a few others in the remaining districts, he said.
24X7 monitoring
The enforcement and police officials are monitoring the illegal movement of liquor through the inter-State border round-the-clock. The enforcement agencies have also arrested women and even minors on charges of smuggling. Mr. Vineet Brijlal said that stern action would be taken against the government employees booked in liquor and sand smuggling cases.
“As per the directions of DGP D. Gautam Sawang, who is also the SEB ex-officio Principal Secretary, people caught in smuggling cases will be booked irrespective of their cadre and position,” Mr. Brijlal told The Hindu.
The SEB, since its inception, has registered 22,072 cases pertaining to smuggling liquor across the State till date and arrested 29,418 persons. The officials have seized 20,170 kgs of ganja and seized 7,766 vehicles used for the crime.
The SEB sleuths have registered 2,189 cases pertaining to sand smuggling and arrested 4,041 persons, with the seizure of 2,798 vehicles. Huge quantity of liquor and sand, worth crores of rupees, have been seized in the last 55 days, the SEB Commissioner added.
