Kozhikode: Excise commissioner Rishiraj Singh wants excise ranges in Kerala to register at least one case a day; if not he would 'catch' such ranges.
Further, if liquor outlets in those ranges flout norms, excise officials in the range would be penalized by the commissioner, who would choose from a range of punishments, including transfer of officials.
The commissioner is also believed to have instructed officers to strengthen enforcement and has also set a deadline for the same. He decided to hit the field when the deadline ended recently.
The commissioner would review the performance of officers, including those in Excise IB. It seems Singh is taking the measures after examining records that showed that the performance of enforcement officials in the department was below par in the past year.
As per records, in the past year, one or two cases were recorded across the state each day. Therefore, he ordered that at least one case has to be recorded in relation to substance smuggling, hooch, arrack smuggling, spirit smuggling, etc. The commissioner has also advised lightning raids on beer and wine parlors.
When he checked records at Amaravila check-post, Singh also found that no contraband of arrack was seized at the check-post in the past one year even as allegations are rife that arrack is flowing into Kerala from Tamil Nadu through this check-post. The new norm announced by Singh is that all excise officials need to raid check-posts in their jurisdiction at least once every 10 days.