A very wet Dry State: Excise and police continue booze run

EMN Dimapur, March 9 Apparently, liquor smugglers are turning to construction business this time: enforcement personnel in Dimapur and Kohima are finding liquor hidden under bricks and sand. The authorities issued press releases on Tuesday informing of two cases recently that had, well, many cases of liquor hidden under said construction materials. At around 4:00 AM on Tuesday, enforcement personnel on duty at the Excise check gate at Chumukedima seized a truckload of assorted liquor from a Pfütsero-bound mini truck. “In order to evade detection, the consignments consisting of 159.5 cases were loaded and on top of which one layer of bricks were meticulously and painstakingly placed. Furthermore, cement bags and block board were placed on top the brick in the guise of transporting construction material,” the press release stated. Zhoupa of Naga United Village in Dimapur is said to have “admitted that consignment belongs to him and pleaded guilty.” Accordingly, the police stated, a case was registered and the accused was “penalized as per the provision of the law.” In another case, this one on March 7, the Kohima police manning Peducha check gate conducting routine frisking duties stopped a white Tata Mobile. On searching the vehicle, the enforcement personnel found 18 cases of IMFL which was found concealed underneath sand, the police said. The truck bore the registration number NL-07A-4677, the police said. The press release stated: “One person identified as Chotsase Sangtam (29 yrs) S/o – Thsapichem Sangtam, Village – Mangakhi, PO/PS – Longkhum, Dist –Tuesang, P/Add – Mangakhi village was apprehended in this connection and is taken into police custody on the charge of illegal possession and transporting banned IMFL.” A regular case vide Sechü (Zübza) P.S Case No. 004/2016 U/S 44 (a) (e) NLTP Act is registered against him and remanded into police custody for conducting further investigation.