In a first, Nepal border towns to go dry during UP polls

  • | Saturday | 25th February, 2017

Indo-Nepal Border/Siddharthnagar: In a first, liquor shops in Nepal on the Indo-Nepal border will be shut for three days till polling for the fifth phase ends in UP. Besides, the border was sealed for the three days.”Dhan Bahadur, an official of the Nepal police posted in the border area, confirmed this. Country-made liquor in India costs Rs 72 per 200 millilitre pouch whereas the same is available in Nepal for only Rs 12. There is no liquor shop on the Indian side along the international border in Siddharthnagar, Balrampur and Bahraich, where polling will be held on Monday.Siddharthnagar superintendent of police Rakesh Shankar said, “Nepal police has assured us that the liquor shops on the border areas along the international border will be closed from Saturday evening till Monday evening. The international border was also sealed as campaign for the fifth phase of assembly elections ended on Saturday at 5 pm.A decision to the effect was taken at a flag meeting between Sashastra Suraksha Bal (SSB) and Nepal’s Sashastra Prahari Dal (SPD) last month.

Indo-Nepal Border/Siddharthnagar: In a first, liquor shops in Nepal on the Indo-Nepal border will be shut for three days till polling for the fifth phase ends in UP. The international border was also sealed as campaign for the fifth phase of assembly elections ended on Saturday at 5 pm.A decision to the effect was taken at a flag meeting between Sashastra Suraksha Bal (SSB) and Nepal’s Sashastra Prahari Dal (SPD) last month. There is no liquor shop on the Indian side along the international border in Siddharthnagar, Balrampur and Bahraich, where polling will be held on Monday.Siddharthnagar superintendent of police Rakesh Shankar said, “Nepal police has assured us that the liquor shops on the border areas along the international border will be closed from Saturday evening till Monday evening. Besides, the border was sealed for the three days.”Dhan Bahadur, an official of the Nepal police posted in the border area, confirmed this. “We have instructed all the shopkeepers running liquor shops in the border towns to shut them from Saturday till Monday evening, till the polling is over on the Indian side,” he said.Since the model code of conduct was imposed, a total of 147 cases of smuggling of Nepal liquor have been lodged in Siddharthnagar district while police have recovered over 10,000 litres of illicit liquor of Nepali brands, Shankar added.Smuggling of liquor from Nepal to India is rampant in the border areas. The reasons are not hard to find. Country-made liquor in India costs Rs 72 per 200 millilitre pouch whereas the same is available in Nepal for only Rs 12. Besides, tipplers swear by the quality sold in neighbouring country.According to the district excise office data, there are 254 licensed liquor shops, including 148 selling country-made liquor and 55 and 51 of branded liquor and beer shops, respectively in the district.But if the liquor shop owners in Nepal are to be believed, every town located on the international border has over 250 households brewing and selling liquor.A liquor shopkeeper in Nepal, Dashrath Prasad Chauhan, told TOI, “This will be the first time when we will shut our liquor shops during polling in India.”Shopkeepers in Nepal said on a given day they sell liquor worth between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 but for the past two weeks, sales have doubled up to Rs 12,000 a day, something they see only during the wedding season.

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