The excise department of Assam on September 20 suspended a constable from its ranks, Mantu Kumar Bora, after he was allegedly found involved in an illegal liquor transportation racket.

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Illegal liquor transportation

"Following the instructions of the excise minister of Assam, Parimal Suklabaidya, the department has suspended constable, Bora," said Sailendra Pandey, Excise Department Public relations officer. He further added, "Bora was deployed at Lanka area in Assam's Hojai district. It is to be mentioned that the state excise department is continuing its drive against the illegal activities across the state," reported news agency ANI.

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Illegal liquor plant

A few days earlier, the excise department had busted an illegal liquor bottling plant along the Assam-Meghalaya border. They had seized 3,200 litres of Extra Neutral Alcohol, 5,200 empty bottles, labels of liquor brands, bottle washing machines and many other items from the illegal distillery. Names of two BJP leaders, Jitu Goswami and Raj Kumar Sharma allegedly surfaced in the case.

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Spurious Alcohol

A few months ago, over 40 people had died after consuming spurious alcohol in Assam's Jorhat and Golaghat districts. At that time, two Excise officers had been suspended and two people involved in making country liquor had been arrested. More than a hundred people were reported to have consumed the liquor, suspected to have been bought from the same seller. Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi has demanded the resignation of Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya and urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to give compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased.

Earlier, around 100 people had died due to consumption of spurious liquor in Saharanpur and Kushinagar districts of Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar district of neighbouring Uttarakhand.

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(With inputs from ANI)