Two days after a five-year-old girl was allegedly brutally abused and killed by a migrant, the Excise department on Monday carried out raids in over 50 migrant labour-intensive accommodation facilities across the Aluva excise range.
Seven teams from the range office limits and three teams from circle offices carried out raids simultaneously since the morning. A few persons were taken into custody and ganja in small quantities and banned tobacco products were seized in the raids. Cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.
“Since the ganja seized was in small quantities, the persons taken into custody were released on bail. Bail has to be granted in cases where the quantity of ganja seized is under one kilogram. However, we have interrogated the accused and are confident of unearthing major cases shortly based on information elicited from them,” said Suresh M, Inspector, Aluva Range.
“Our assessment is that some of them smuggled in ganja from their native places and sold it among migrant workers here. They take advantage of lax enforcement in States like Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha to smuggle ganja especially from the Naxal-hit areas in these States,” said Mr. Suresh.
Excise officials were left aghast at the deplorable conditions in which migrant workers were found living. “Large spaces were split into smaller rooms for accommodating migrant workers in very unhygienic conditions. Though it is the domain of the Labour department and the police, we have asked the building owners to offer decent facilities and rent out space only after collecting proper identity documents,” said Mr. Suresh.
Published - July 31, 2023 07:49 pm IST
