Margao Railway Station is not just a station, but a major railway junction on the Konkan Railway route, with trains chugging in from all corners of the country almost every day. For bootleggers and smugglers too, the Margao Railway Station has come in handy to despatch liquor consignments to various parts of the country, including Gujarat, courtesy the long distance trains.
Goa Police and the RPF might dish out impressive statistics on the number of liquor seizures effected at the Margao Railway Station in the recent past, but liquor smuggling from Margao station continues unabated, informed sources in the know.
Herald inquiries have revealed that around half-a-dozen bootleggers are operating from the Margao Railway Station, despatching liquor consignments to as far away Gujarat and Maharashtra in the North and Kerala down South. The modus operandi adopted by the smugglers appears simple. Stuff normal luggage with liquor bottles and load them in the long distance trains with the help of an elaborate network of workers working under them. Once the consignment finds its way inside the trains, the bags are stacked up near the toilets. A senior police officer, who had launched a sustained campaign against liquor smuggling in the past, said the bootleggers work in tandem with train personnel. “We had come across an instance wherein the liquor consignment had found its way into a train pantry, indicating the collusion between the smugglers and the railway men”, remarked the police official.
Asked to shed light on liquor smuggling at the railway station, Excise officer, Nilesh Naik said the bootleggers operate with an elaborate network in and around the railway station. “Our mere presence along the old station road is enough to make them alert and change gears. The Excise Department has plans to work closely with the railway authorities and the police to stop the liquor smuggling”, Nilesh added.
