Araria: In a major crackdown on liquor smuggling, Araria Police busted an organised inter-district gang and arrested three liquor smugglers on Wednesday night while they were loading Nepali liquor into gunny bags on a Bihar-registered pickup van at Ward No. 7 in Dahgama village under Sikti police station area.Disclosing the operation on Thursday, Araria SP Jitendra Kumar said 936 litres of Nepali liquor were recovered from the spot. While 12–13 persons were involved in loading the consignment, most managed to flee under the cover of darkness. “Their identities and whereabouts are known, and they will be arrested soon,” the SP asserted.
The raiding team also seized a pick-up van, 22 jute gunny bags, four yellow plastic bags, one cellphone and Rs11,610 in cash from the accused. Those arrested have been identified as Nand Kishore Mandal of Karjain police station area in Supaul district, Basuki Kumar Mandal of Bardaha police station area in Araria district, and Rajkumar Paswan of Saidabad under Sikti police station.The SP, who assumed charge on Jan, highlighted the police achievements during the first 12 days of his tenure. He said the police have recovered four four-wheelers, 19 motorcycles, one tempo and one e-rickshaw used in criminal activities, besides seizing one country-made revolver and five live cartridges.In addition, police have recovered 91.58 grams of smack, 198 kg of ganja, 6.37 grams of brown sugar and 82.2 litres of cough syrup, along with 1,343.5 litres of country-made liquor and 176.2 litres of foreign liquor, the SP added.Emphasising public outreach and transparency, the SP said he would hold ‘janata durbars’ at every police station, with efforts to resolve grievances on the spot. “Transparency in police action will be my priority, and I will remain accessible to the people,” he said.On land disputes, the SP said a mechanism is being developed to connect aggrieved citizens directly with the circle officers (COs) and station house officers (SHOs) concerned to ensure timely resolution. He also expressed serious concern over non-registration of FIRs, stating that accountability would be strictly enforced.Considering Araria’s vast area and its location along the Indo-Nepal border, the SP stressed the need for at least four police subdivisions and five police circles in the district. “No complainant will return unheard, and grievances will be addressed promptly,” he assured.
