The State Excise and Prohibition department has started cracking whip on the syndicate involved in the overpricing of liquor and taking strict action against illegal liquor manufacturing the State. Overpricing was rampant in the State, which resulted in an illegal collection of about Rs 100 Crore every month. The employees of the placement agency in the liquor shops openly took overrate and if not paid, they even resorted to violence.
However, in the leadership of Excise Secretary Mukesh Kumar, the department has curbed overrating in almost all the districts of Jharkhand. Now liquor is being sold at the printed rate. The department has also issued helpline numbers to assist consumers if they find any liquor shop selling liquor more than its printed rate.
The illegal business of overrating was flourishing in all the districts. In some districts, illegal collection of twenty rupees per bottle and ten rupees per bottle was common. The sellers used to demand more than the printed rate for any kind of liquor and also threatened the consumers if they protested. Customers were forced to pay ten to thirty rupees extra.
According to an estimate about 10 per cent people of the State consume foreign liquor daily, which means about 30 lakh people consume liquor daily. If the oversight is calculated from all the thirty lakh customers, then about three and a half crore rupees were illegally collected daily and about 100 crores monthly, which was distributed from top to bottom.
After the department swung into action several people have been arrested and cases were registered against them for overpricing. In Bokaro district 96 cases have been filed in just 53 days. Also, 42 people have been arrested by the Bokaro excise department for selling fake liquor and overselling. And about 2.90 lakh rupees have been recovered by the department.
According to officials eight people have been sent to jail. The search for 47 people is going on and 34 people have been fined. The District Assistant Commissioner of Bokaro has also released some helpline numbers.
