Assam, Arunachal vow to combat cross-border liquor trade

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 29, 2024

Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will make a joint effort to combat cross-border liquor trade in Assam.

This was decided in a joint meeting of the officials of the excise department of both states in the presence of Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein and Assam excise minister Keshab Mahanta held at Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara in Guwahati on Friday.

“The meeting ended on a positive note where both the states have agreed to address the issues and challenges faced by in the excise department by sharing information for better coordination and checking revenue leakage from illegal selling of liquors to boost revenue generation of both the states,” Mein said after the meeting.

“Both states admitted to having suffered revenue losses due to this illegal liquor trade. The meeting agreed to share information between excise officials from the two states to tame the illegal liquor trade,” Mein said.

Mein said that the Arunachal Pradesh government has taken a slew of measures to check the flow of Arunachali liquor to Assam.

The meeting was also attended by Captain Anupam Tangu, commissioner, of finance, tax & excise, Arunachal Pradesh; YW Ringgu, commissioner, excise, Arunachal Pradesh, Jitu Doley; Lobsang Tsering, additional resident commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh based in Guwahati and Dilip Kumar Chutia along with other officials.

“Both the states will continue to cooperate in increasing excise revenue and expedite the exchange of information between the excise departments to curb the sale of illegal liquor,” Mahanta said.

An official-level meeting between the two states will also be held shortly to take up joint action in this regard.

On September 25, 2021, the Assam Cabinet decided to introduce a transit pass to stop the smuggling of liquor from neighbouring states, especially Arunachal Pradesh.

On August 3, 2022, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed Excise officials to set up temporary check posts along the state’s boundary with Arunachal Pradesh to check the illegal influx of liquor from the neighbouring state.

However, smuggling of Arunachali liquor is going on unabated in the state. The smugglers used Khatkhati in Karbi Anglong district to send liquor consignments to neighbouring Nagaland state.

In the last three years, police and excise personnel seized more than 500 cases of Arunachali liquor from the Khatkhati check gate.