Squads to check transportation of liquor in Karaikal district

The district administration has set up monitoring squads to check transportation of liquor consignments . The squads operating under the supervision of deputy collector (Revenue) has so far conducted 10 raids, and booked three cases.

Liquor shops have been warned to refrain from engaging in sales beyond permitted time. All liquor outlets are directed to handover daily accounts of sales to the excise department, and the sales of the current period is verified against the sales of the corresponding period last fiscal to monitor suspicious liquor movement.

As of date, 10 raids have been conducted and Indian Made Foreign Liquor and illicit arrack worth Rs.3.60 lakh have been seized. Three flying squads are posted for each constituency for round-the-clock monitoring.

Seven check posts in the district have been fortified with three squads each for round-the-clock vigilance and monitoring of vehicles. Political parties are required to secure prior permission from the election officers for indoor meetings and campaigns. Similarly, candidates are required to submit daily accounts to the election expenditure monitoring cell.

Further, an assistant election expenditure officer has been nominated for each of the five Assembly constituencies. The administration has also issued a fiat against defacement of public property. Issuing a time-frame for removal of all wall writings, posters, hoardings, and flex boards, commune panchayats and municipalities are directed to initiate legal action under the Pondicherry Open Places (Prevention of Defacement) Act. Political parties have been directed to remove party flag posts within the timeframe or face action. Three cases have been registered for defacement. The 24-hour control room with toll free number 1950 has so far received three complaints on poll violations. A media monitoring cell and a media centre has been created at the collectorate to monitor advertisements, and paid news in print, electronic media, and radio.

Speaking to the media on poll arrangements, Collector A.Muthamma said 15 booths have been identified as sensitive and over 2,100 new applications for voter IDs have been received during the special camp organised on March 9.