Dibrugarh: Tinsukia has made registration mandatory for all businesses dealing in molasses to curb illicit liquor production.District magistrate Sumit Sattawan issued the order on Monday under Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023, after authorities found that molasses, commonly known as “Lalee”, imported from outside Assam was being diverted for the illegal manufacture of country liquor and spurious alcohol.The administration said the practice posed a serious threat to public health, safety and human life.Under the order, no person, firm, trader, wholesaler, retailer or business entity may store, transport, sell, purchase or otherwise deal in liquid molasses or molasses powder without registering with Tinsukia district administration within 15 days of its issuance. Registration is mandatory even for those procuring molasses for cattle feed, industrial or agricultural purposes.The order prohibits the sale, storage or transportation of molasses under the guise of jaggery, or its false labelling as jaggery. Traders, transporters and dealers must maintain records of procurement, transportation and sale and produce them before authorised officers when required.Violations will invite prosecution under Section 223 of BNS, 2023, and other applicable laws.Molasses, locally known as “Lalee or Lali Gur”, is used to ferment “Sulai”, a rectified spirit consumed in rural and tea-garden communities across upper Assam. In 2019, contaminated Sulai killed at least 158 people, mostly tea-garden workers in Golaghat and Jorhat.
