Wokha | January 22
A team of the Wokha police confiscated a liquor consignment on the morning of January 22 which is being pitted to cost Rs. 25 lakh in the market.
Following specific inputs from the excise department in Wokha, the Wokha police team intercepted a full body truck at around 10.30am Wednesday at Tsungiki Bazar II under Wokha district, on the outskirts of Wokha town, on the highway to Mokokchung. The consignment of liquor was found concealed under bags of cement inside the truck. The number of bottles could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report, but its net worth in the market is being pitched at Rs. 25 lakh. The truck, NL07A 4312, was coming from Dimapur and was on its way to Mokokchung via Wokha. Two men who were manning the truck have been arrested by the Wokha police and a regular criminal case under the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act has been registered against them.
Sources informed that such “inter district movement” of liquor through Wokha is regular. Large consignments, like the one that was confiscated Wednesday, move through Wokha at least two to three times in a month, said sources, who also informed that many a times such movement of liquor is supported by “local undergrounds,” making it difficult for the police to intercept and freeze their movement. In many districts, note sources, liquor syndicates find powerful backing and liquor is often transported under heavy surveillance and even with the help of escorts.
Last year, during election, some major seizures were made by both the Wokha police and the Assam Rifles in Wokha, which included the arrest of Nagaland minister for health and family welfare, Imkong L Imchen. The case is being heard at a court in Wokha currently.
