MOTIHARI: Liquor prohibition in the state, it seems, has come as a boon for daily-wagers and small traders on either side of the India-Nepal border in Motihari and neighbouring areas in East Champaran district. These people have now started bootlegging More than 100 hutments have come up near the no-man’s land in Bara and Parsa districts of Nepal, which share the open border with East Champaran district, where huge volume of low quality of Nepalese liquor, commonly known as ‘saufi’ bottles are being sold.Sources said more than 100 bootleggers are involved in this racket in East Champaran. They are working as couriers to make home delivery of the Nepalese liquor in Raxaul, Adapur, Chhoradano, Ghorasan, Dhaka, Chiraiya, Gurhenwa, Kumdawa and Chainpur areas, posing a challenge to SSB, excise, customs and local police.India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) smugglers too have been offensive as a SAP jawan was killed a few days ago near Rajepur, when a police team tried to stop an SUV loaded with liquor bottles. In another incident, a gang of bootleggers attacked a police team near Narayanpur bridge under Kalyanpur police station last week.Similar case was reported from Harsidhi police station, where a gang of smugglers attacked a police team, when they had gone there to raid a house to seize liquor bottles.SSB director-general R K Mishra had visited Indo-Nepal bordering areas in the district last December and reviewed the situation with villagers and officials. He had accepted that there has been substantial spurt in the smuggling of liquor from Nepal border in last one year as Bihar is a dry state following imposition of total prohibition on April 5, 2016.Sources said the state government has sought help and cooperation from Nepal government to check smuggling of liquor across the border. Police had launched a drive against liquor smugglers in Nepal’s Bara and Parsa districts, but it ended after some time.SSB deputy commandant at Motihari Amit Kumar said 35 smugglers were arrested by SSB and 4,824 bottles of Nepalese liquor seized from their possession in the last three months.Keshav Kumar Jha, excise superintendent of Bihar government posted at Motihari, said 840 litres of IMFL and 7,352 litres of country liquor were seized in last one year and 569 smugglers arrested in the district. Police have also seized 30 SUVs, cars and bikes used for carrying illegal liquor.

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