BHUBANESWAR: Police and Excise officials have been advised to step up surveillance for a free, fair and transparent General Elections.At a high-level meeting on Monday, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi asked police, Excise and Drug Control officials to conduct joint raids to crack down on illegal liquor trade.
To check smuggling of liquor, drugs and other intoxicants within Odisha and across the border, Padhi asked officials of Police and Excise departments to work in cooperation with their counterparts in the neighbouring States.
The Chief Secretary asked police to seal inter-state borders to prevent supply of intoxicants to Odisha and shut down all liquor shops in the State 48 hours before polling days in the State.Development Commissioner Asit Tripathy also asked the field officials of both the departments to prepare a report of joint raids and submit it to EC officials on a regular basis.
Excise officials informed that 1.32 lakh litre liquor has been seized so far and 2,140 people have been arrested and forwarded to court. Besides, they said around 1.37 crore hemp plants have been destroyed and 4.5 kg brown sugar seized by March end.