In view of Assembly polls, the State Excise Department has embarked on a drive to curb on the sale of illicit liquor across East Singhbhum  district.  The department has set up two flying squads comprising six officials in each of them.  The idea is to keep on targeting the places where the illicit country-made liquor is manufactured and sold.

“We want to ensure peaceful polls and have made elaborate arrangements for the same.  We would be also focusing on illegal consumption of liquor while the traffic police personnel will be checking into traffic norms violations,” said an official.

At Jamshedpur there are 98 Indian Make Foreign Liquor (IMFL) licensed shops, 51 country-made liqour shop and 15 spicy liquor shops.

Revealing about the move, the official pointed out that though they have set up the flying squads for conducting raids on the illicit liquor den and also at the illicit manufacturing units.

"We have decided to rely on the police's co-operation in conducting raids effectively against the liquor traders and liquor-den operators," said the official.

He said that today they had sent a requisition for conducting raids at some slum area.

He said they have received two vehicles for the flying squads from the election cells, but in absence of the armed police force the flying squads are not working effectively against especially the liquor manufacturers who operate in the interior part of the district.

Notably, the steel city has a history of manufacturing of duplicate liquor as the district police had in the past busted several racket 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.