Dispur: A joint team of Excise and Food Safety personnel raided a godown and destroyed a huge quantity of molasses (lali gur) at Ramnagar, Merapani along the Assam-Nagaland inter-state border in Golaghat district on Tuesday.
The Excise team was led by Deputy Superintendent of Excise, Golaghat (Sadar), Ashutosh Baruah, and Food Safety Officer, Beni Borgohain.
2500 tins of molasses not fit for human consumption were seized by personnel of both departments assisted by local police from the godown of one Prodip Gupta. “The molasses, lali gur stored in hundreds of tins not fit for consumption and for making illicit liquor (sulai) was seized and destroyed,” said Baruah.
The tins containing molasses were destroyed in a nearby pond in the presence of Excise, Food Safety, police personnel, various organizations, and media persons.
Prior to the raid, the Food Safety department had served notice to the owner on June 20 and asked him to destroy the molasses which he had stored in his godown without any valid documents. When the owner did not pay any heed, the godown was sealed and an FIR was filed against him by the Food Safety Officer at Merapani Police Station.
The action taken by the departments has drawn appreciation from different quarters who opined that such raids should continue to put a stop to illicit liquor (sulai) endangering many a life.