Acting Chief of District Customs Office (DCO) Madar, Siraha, Rajesh Kumar Dutt said that due to the lack of security, customs employees have not been able to leave the office premises and that it was the police´s responsibility to check smuggling activities. Last year the customs office collected Rs 58,750,000 in taxes, the highest amount ever, with the active involvement of police, said Dutt. The office has not been able to reach even half its targeted amount this year. In the past two months, the DCO collected less than Rs 4 million.
Out of the six sub-customs offices in Siraha, Sikojyoti, Naurangi, Jhajhpati, Bariyarpatti and Aurahi have not been operating for years. The Thadhi branch has three staff, but they are continuously threatened by smugglers, said Dutt. Despite the presence of police or Armed Police Force at the offices, smuggling is thriving. The border security office Siraha said that the armed police had to control various border crimes with a limited workforce and could not focus just on smuggling.
According to a customs source, smugglers in Siraha have a big network. The police chiefs, investigating officers and administrative officers have all received bribes, leading to a rise in smuggling, informed the source.
With Dashain approaching, cooking oil, hardware products, electronic goods, clothes, motor parts and other essential foods are being imported from India every day. Around one million rupees worth of textile enters Siraha through different border points daily, but taxes are seldom paid. More than Rs 5 million worth of goods are brought in illegally per day, claimed the source.
Chief District Officer Gehanath Bhandari said that security has been improved and all the displaced customs offices will be restored soon. Although there are 40 vacancies at the DCO Siraha, there are only 18 employees at the moment. Lack of employees, vehicles, and security have made tax monitoring difficult, said Dutt. Two non-gazetted staff - a subba and a kharidar -- have resigned while three have submitted voluntary retirement requests, he informed.
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