Jammu: The J&K excise department today said
it has registered a 22 per cent growth in revenue collection
to Rs 225 crore in the April-July period of the 2010-11
financial year from Rs 184 crore in the year-ago period.
This was disclosed at a meeting chaired by State Finance
Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to review the performance of the
department here today.
The excise department's revenue of Rs 225 crore during
the four-month period is the highest-ever for the state in the
last decade and translates into an increase of Rs 41 crore
over the previous record established in the previous year.
While reviewing the enforcement activities undertaken by
the department, the minister was informed that 85 persons were
arrested in 1,127 raids and 28,904 kgs of lahan (a prohibited
substance) destroyed during the period, with a penalty of Rs
3.63 lakh slapped on the offenders.
Rather noted with satisfaction that 1,100 kg of poppy
was also seized during this period at the Lakhanpur toll post,
while poppy being grown over an area of about 2,100 kanals of
land in Kashmir Valley was also destroyed.
The Minister exhorted the officers to redouble their
efforts to eradicate the menace of illicit liquor, bootlegging
and illegal cultivation of narcotic plants like bhang and
poppy.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 23:02