The Jharkhand director-general of police, M.V. Rao, has reached out to the people of the state on social media to aid the police in its bid to curb the sale of illicit liquor and gambling.

Police and district administration officials are on the warpath against illicit liquor, as it is seen to be more of a vote turner than any other ideology.

“ Please help @JharkhandPolice in the drive against illicit liquor and gambling by sharing the information,” reads the tweet of the director-general of police, on his Twitter handle Mandava V Rao @MVRaoIPS.

It added, “Any channel of communication is ok. Dial 100, call the numbers of the police officers of your area, tweet or send SMS or What’sApp message.”

Police sources said the director-general of police’s war cry has come in the rainy season, a time when the consumption of illicit liquor and gambling in the coal belt goes up.

Sources said the director-general of police has been speaking up against illicit liquor for months now. All kinds of liquor/ wines are banned in neighbouring Bihar where Assembly elections are due this year end. Districts of Jharkhand like Palamau, Chatra, Garhwa, Hazaribagh and Koderma, are in the vicinity and there is a serious apprehension that illicit liquor manufacturing and sale will go up in these districts for consumption in Bihar.

The illicit brew is made from the ripe fruit of the Mahua tree.

Hence, the state forest department, whenever it launches plantations during Van Mahotsav, does not plant Mahua trees.

In Palamau district, a count conducted five years ago suggested more than 7 lakh of Mahua trees.

Sources said the villagers protest vehemently if anyone dares to fell a Mahua tree, because of its value.

The zonal inspector-general of police, Ranchi, Navin Kumar Singh, said, “The director-general of police’s tweet is a call to curb and the illicit brew here in the state, which causes losses to the state exchequer as well.”

The superintendent of police, Palamau, Ajay Linda, said, “I have asked our officials to search and destroy illicit brew-making units that are generally set up deep in the jungles where there is the availability of water.”

Linda said women brew the illicit liquor making while their men do “outer jobs”.

He said, “Taash (card playing) is a common sight as well. People in their vests and lungis can be found sitting under any huge tree playing this game.”

Police sources said gambling is rampant in districts like Dhanbad, Saraikela Kharsawan, Pakur and Jamshedpur where flow of money is higher than places like Palamau and Garhwa etc.

Sanjay Srivastava, the excise superintendent of Palamau district, said, “During raids at illicit liquor dens, our excise teams have to face stiff resistance from women and children when our teams seize the illicit liquor and arrest the brew makers and bootleggers. Our excise department has only one woman official, whom the Palamau SP has deputed to our department.”

Police sources said the manufacture of illicit liquor is a kind of parallel rural cottage industry in almost every district of Jharkhand.

Police sources said so far, any Maoist link to the illicit liquor trade has not been established in Palamau.