THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, April 4: Wine in the river! It is right in the bed of the river Sone. Wine manufacturing is a pain in the neck for the cops of Bihar and Jharkhand.
Joint drive by Jharkhand-Bihar police
The Nabinagar police of Bihar and Jharkhand’s Palamu police conducted a joint drive against illicit liquor at Deela, a ‘high land’ where the perennial river Sone has less water in summer.
Six cops of Bihar led by the officer in-charge of the Nabinagar police station, Manoj Kumar Pandey, and five cops of Jharkhand Palamu’s Dangwar outpost led by the officer in-charge, Sanjay Yadav, unearthed a huge quantity of illicit wine at the highland in the river Sone very recently, about 97 km away from Daltonganj.
Cops take a boat ride
The cops of both the states had to take a boat ride first to cross over the river Sone.
Then, they took off their police shoes and rolled up their uniforms while wading through the water. The water level was up to their chests at a few places in the river Sone. They showed skill in saving their cell phones.
First phase of LS polls on April 13
The joint raid followed the first phase of the polls in Bihar. The first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha in Bihar is due on April 19. Bihar’s Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Jamui Lok Sabha constituencies will vote on April 19.
Palamu has a long, porous border with Aurangabad and Gaya in Bihar.
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Destruction of 50,000 litres of Jawa Mahua
Palamu SP Reeshma Ramesan told this correspondent, “The joint raid by the police of Bihar and Jharkhand led to the destruction of 50,000 litres of Jawa Mahua, 1000 kgs of molasses, etc, all ingredients for making illicit liquor.”
Hussainabad Sub-divisional police officer Mukesh Kumar Mahto said the bootleggers are allegiance to Bihar and Jharkhand.
The high land, called in the local dialect Deela, is infamous for illicit liquor, and here, a successful drive was launched jointly, taking the bootleggers by surprise.
SDPO Mahto said, “The bootleggers had no idea of Bihar and Jharkhand police reaching this haven. This high land is surrounded by water, and as it’s summer, the river Sone is pretty calm and has less water than in the rainy season, when it gets turbulent.”
4-hour Operation liquor
The cops of the two states had a 4-hour operation liquor here.
The highland has a kind of “mine of illicit wine, right from dry Mahua fruits to fermented ones, all hidden 3 to 4 feet beneath the ground of the highland,” said Sanjay Yadav, the officer in charge of the Dangwar outpost.
The Deela is notorious for illicit firearms. However, it was not found here by either the Bihar police or the Jharkhand police.
SDPO Mahto said, “We will fly a drone here ahead of April 19 first-phase polling.” This will have a psychological impact.
The boatmen who first sailed them to the high land in their time-worn wooden boats were obliged to bring them back on the bank, too.
This is the first major strike against wine in River Sone, where making wine and weapons like desi katta is not an unheard-of thing.
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