No fuel, Bihar excise department stops raids

The excise and taxation department in the Supaul district of Bihar is unable to conduct raids to implement the liquor ban for the last 15 days due to lack of fuel. The fuel station owner has denied the supply of petrol and diesel for vehicles owned by the department.

Patna: The excise and taxation department in Supaul district of Bihar is unable to conduct raids to implement the liquor ban for the last 15 days due to lack of fuel, an official said. The fuel station owner has denied the supply of petrol and diesel for vehicles owned by the department. The owner has written to the department asking it to clear the dues first. At present, a sum of Rs 5.85 lakh is pending against the department.

Santosh Kumar, the manager of Krishna fuel centre said: "We were giving fuel to the vehicles of all departments initially. As the payment of fuel was not regular, our proprietor requested the district magistrate of Supaul to reduce the load of the fuel station. Following that district magistrate issued a letter and allotted different fuel stations for different departments."

"At present, the vehicles of four departments including planning, excise, road construction and statistics are taking fuel from our centre. We have stopped giving them fuel now. Our service will start only after dues are cleared," Kumar said.

Due to the non-availability of fuel, the excise department has stopped conducting raids, as it has the sole responsibility to implement the liquor prohibition with the help of district police. The raids have completely stopped for the last 15 days. Sudhir Kumar Jha, the superintendent of the excise department said: "The department has sanctioned Rs 80,000 now for the purpose and our operations will start soon."