Interstate coordination committee meeting held ahead of election

Udhagamandalam: A coordination committee meeting, attended by officials from the Nilgiris district and border districts in Kerala and Karnataka, was held at the government guest house in Ooty on Friday to discuss the upcoming assembly election.

Chaired by Nilgiris collector J Innocent Divya, the meeting was attended by Nilgiris SP R Pandiarajan, Wayanad collector Adhila Abdullah, Wayanad SP Arvind Sugumar, Malappuram collector K Gopalakrishnan and SP S Sujith Das, and Samraj Nagar sub-collector Girish, besides senior police and Tasmac officials.

The meeting mainly discussed the measures to check liquor smuggling across the border. It was decided to set up two more check posts at Kuni and Koththalagundu on the Kerala border, besides the 13 check posts at the border close to Malappuram and Wayanad. Also, mobile check posts will be introduced.

Personnel will be on alert to check transportation of gift article, cash and liquor. History-sheeters linked to liquor smuggling will be monitored. If sales of liquor exceed 30% of the average sale, reasons should be elucidated. It was also decided to conduct simultaneous combing operations at border areas vulnerable to Maoist activities.