Patna: The governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will take joint action to curb liquor smuggling along their shared border, with a special focus on the upcoming Bihar elections. In a meeting held via video conferencing on June 27, prohibition officers of both states finalised strategies to strengthen surveillance and enforcement in the region.
Officials announced plans to set up new check posts in border areas, deploy CCTV cameras, drones, hand-held scanners, and sniffer dogs, and conduct joint raids on liquor manufacturing and storage sites. There will also be enhanced monitoring of liquor shops within a 10 km radius of the border, with checks on supply chains and manufacturing companies implicated in smuggling operations.
The meeting was attended by Adarsh Singh, Excise Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh; Amit Kumar Jain, Additional Director General (Prohibition) of Bihar; Ajay Yadav, Secretary; Rajneesh Kumar Singh, Commissioner-cum-Inspector General; along with Assistant Commissioners and District Excise Officers of both states.
Eight districts of Bihar – Rohtas, Kaimur, Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj and West Champaran – share a 1,060 km border with eight districts of Uttar Pradesh: Sonbhadra, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ballia, Ghazipur, Deoria, Kushinagar and Maharajganj.
Between January and May 2025, 64 liquor-related FIRs were registered in Bihar, with 25% involving consignments of foreign liquor manufactured in Uttar Pradesh. Officials recommended closer investigation and punitive action against manufacturers implicated in such cases.
The governments will also conduct regular coordination meetings and exchange intelligence to ensure effective implementation of Bihar’s prohibition policy.
