Three excise officials suspended, 6 get notices over illegal liquor trade in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, May 6 (PTI) In an action against illegal trade, storage and transportation of liquor in Chhattisgarh, the state government has suspended three circle in-charges and served notices to six senior excise department officers, said an official on Tuesday.

The action has been taken after surprise inspection by the state flying squad which led to the seizure of illegal liquor consignments in Balodabazar, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon districts, he added.

Circle in-charge of Balodabazar, Motin Banjare, has been suspended, while show-cause notices have been issued to District Excise Officer Gajendra Singh and Assistant Excise Officer-cum-Divisional in-charge Jalesh Singh, according to the official.

A total of 104 cartons of foreign liquor from Madhya Pradesh were confiscated by the state level flying squad in the raid conducted at Banasankara village of Balodabazar district last month.

Similarly, on May 3, as many as 14 cartons of country made liquor, 14 boxes of beer from Odisha and 13 bottles of foreign liquor were seized at Bagbahara in Mahasamund district.

Bagbahara Circle in-charge Mukesh Kumar Verma has been suspended, while show-cause notices have been issued to District Excise Officer Nidhish Koshti and Divisional in-charge Uttam Buddha Bhardwaj, the official said.

In a raid conducted by the police at a farm house in village Karwari Latmarra road located in Excise Circle Dongargarh of Rajnandgaon district, 432 cartons of foreign liquor of different brands and a large quantity of empty bottles, caps, labels and 4000 holograms were seized recently.

Dongargarh Circle in-charge Anil Kumar Singh has been suspended, while the then-Assistant Excise Commissioner of Rajnandgaon Yadunanand Rathore and Divisional In-charge Sandeep Sahare have been issued show-cause notices, he added. PTI COR RSY