The Odisha Excise Department, working with forest officials, raided illegal brewing units in the Khuntuni forest range of Cuttack district on Friday. Teams struck at Dalua, Kansara, Baushitangora, Saraswatipur and nearby pockets,…
The Story in Brief
The Odisha Excise Department, working with forest officials, raided illegal brewing units in the Khuntuni forest range of Cuttack district on Friday. Teams struck at Dalua, Kansara, Baushitangora, Saraswatipur and nearby pockets, seizing 2,220 litres of illicit country liquor and destroying 22,480 litres of fermented wash.
Operators fled before the raids. Officials registered five cases and said the action, based on intelligence inputs, has disrupted the local illegal liquor network. The department plans more joint operations in vulnerable forest areas to dismantle distillation units and pursue those behind the trade.
The Indian Opinion
News of a single 2,220-litre seizure is welcome, but it should not be mistaken for a victory over illicit liquor. Forest hideouts keep shifting, and the same networks often spring back once patrols ease. The real test is whether the excise department follows the money and arrests the people who run these units, not just the ones who flee. How many of the five cases end in convictions, and will the department name the kingpins it claims to be chasing? Watch for those numbers in the next few months. Until then, treat the operation as a skirmish, not a campaign.
Source: odishatv.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
