excise Crime Branch wing grapples with staff crunch

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excise crime branch wing formed in 2019 to handle high-profile drug cases and curb drug trafficking is facing an existential crisis.

As of now, the wing has just 13 officers investigating more than 250 major cases, some of which warrant inter-state journeys, reported from all 14 districts. The dearth of hands has badly affected the wing’s functioning at a time when drug trafficking to the state is seeing an alarming rise.

Sources with the excise department said the crime branch wing is headed by a joint excise commissioner and comprises an assistant commissioner, two excise inspectors, four preventive officers and five civil excise officers. The sources said the officers are bogged down by the workload.

“The staff strength is thoroughly insufficient as we are witnessing a surge in drug trafficking cases. Based on our present strength, we don’t even have one officer for each district. Even to peruse files, the present number of officers is not enough. How are we supposed to investigate cases, which require long-term planning and huge effort, with this small retinue of men,” wondered an excise officer.