Bhubaneswar: Not everyone is cheerful during the festive season in Odisha, particularly bootleggers and ganja smugglers.
In a major crackdown on illicit liquor and narcotics during the ongoing festival season, the Odisha Excise Department has intensified enforcement activities as part of a statewide drive being conducted from 10 to 31 October.
Officials said the drive aims to curb the manufacture, possession, storage, sale, transportation and smuggling of illicitly distilled (ID) liquor, non-duty-paid and duplicate liquor, spirit, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other contrabands.
Within the first five days of the drive, the department had registered 958 cases, including 25 NDPS cases, and arrested 470 persons and forwarded them to court.
Listing the confiscated contrabands, Excise officials said enforcement operations resulted in the seizure of 46,218 bulk litres of ID liquor, 39 litres of duplicate foreign liquor, 795 kg of Mahua flowers, 931 kg of ganja, 135 grams of heroin and 25.4 litres of codeine-based cough syrup. The department also seized 62 vehicles used in the commission of these offences.
The special drive will continue until 31 October, with the department maintaining heightened vigilance and intensifying enforcement measures to prevent the circulation of illicit liquor, narcotic substances and other contrabands during the festival season.
