Railways orders crackdown after liquor haul from train coach roof

Patna: The railways has taken strong exception to the recovery of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles concealed inside the roof panel of a coach of the Anand Vihar-Raxaul Satyagrah Express (13274) and has directed a major crackdown to curb illegal transportation of liquor by trains.

The incident occurred on Saturday near Kaptanganj under Varanasi division of North Eastern Railway. Railway authorities said the matter was being treated with utmost seriousness. Both the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) will intensify checks under “Operation Satark” to ensure a complete clampdown on the illegal transportation of contraband liquor, railway sources said, adding the RPF has also activated its intelligence wing to gather inputs and prevent such activities.

Meanwhile, the Gonda GRP in Uttar Pradesh claimed the liquor seizure on Saturday was carried out by its escort party and not by the RPF. According to Gonda GRP inspector Dinesh Kumar Pandey, the GRP escort party comprising a havildar and two constables had boarded the train at Gonda and was on escort duty up to Paniahwa located in Kushinagar district, Uttar Pradesh. The seized liquor bottles were deposited with the GRP after completing the formal seizure paperwork. A case was, however, registered against unknown persons with the GRP, Kaptanganj, he said, adding further investigation was still underway to identify the real culprits in the matter.

On the other hand, Kaptanganj RPF clarified the RPF team on patrol duty recovered and seized an abandoned bag containing over 13 litres of liquor valued at more than Rs 16,000 lying within the Kaptanganj station premises on Saturday. A case has been registered with the RPF post at Kaptanganj while further investigation goes on, an RPF official said.