Chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar Focusing on stopping the supply of liquor in the state, all the concerned officers have been asked to ensure strict implementation of the prohibition law.
Presiding over a meeting of top officials at his office on Monday, Kumar asked them to identify routes being used for smuggling liquor from other states to Bihar.
Liquor ban was implemented in Bihar in April 2016.
Soon after the meeting, Chief Secretary Amir Subhani said, “The CM has made it clear that the focus of the Police, Prohibition and Excise departments should be on breaking all liquor supply and distribution chains across the state. If people involved in the supply and distribution of liquor in Bihar are caught, the availability of liquor will be checked automatically. “Therefore, the priority of the authorities should be to identify the routes through which liquor is being smuggled into Bihar from other states and nab the people involved in this illegal trade,” he said.
Subhani said that as per the law, a fine of Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 will be imposed on a person consuming alcohol for the first time.
“If the first time offender fails to pay the fine, he will be imprisoned for 30 days. Second-time offenders do not get any relief as per the law, and will have to undergo a jail term of one year,” he said.
KK Pathak, Additional Chief Secretary, Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department, said 20,000 people were arrested in October for violating the prohibition law.
read all Latest Politics News Here