Berhampur: An Excise department constable was seriously injured after he was attacked by a group of people selling liquor illegally in a lane behind the Berhampur Telephone Bhavan here, Monday night. The injured constable has been identified as Sabyasachi Mishra. An Excise official said that the district administration had imposed restrictions on the sale of liquor during the second half of the day in the festive season. However, some unscrupulous liquor traders were reportedly found selling foreign liquor on the sly by defying the restrictions. The Excise department had deployed personnel in plainclothes at various locations of the city to keep an eye on these traders.
While on duty, constable Sabyasachi Mishra and his team found some people illegally selling liquor from a rented house, near a liquor shop that had been closed since March this year, in a lane behind the Berhampur Telephone Bhavan. While Sabyasachi was taking pictures of the illegal liquor sale in progress, some liquor traders approached him and snatched away his mobile phone. They were soon joined by a mob before launching a vicious attack on Sabyasachi who showed them him ID card and Aadhaar card in a bid to stop them. The unrelenting mob beat him up mercilessly, leaving him seriously injured and bleeding. The miscreants also took away Sabyasachi’s ID and Aadhaar cards. On being informed, officials from the Excise department rushed to the spot and rescued the constable. They later admitted him to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital where he is recuperating. The Town Police lodged an FIR following a complaint. According to reports, one of the attackers, an illegal liquor trader, surrendered at the police station, while the house used for selling the illegal liquor was sealed in the presence of the Tehsildar.
