THIS sleepy township, a favourite with tourists for siestas on sun-baked beaches by day and a haven of smugglers by night, has suddenly woken up to the realisation that the Purulia arms dropping incident might just be a prelude to something more dangerous—and this time on the shores of the Arabian sea. While the last reported incident of smuggling here was in March 1993, given Daman's long and chequered association with undercover operators, chances are that sooner or later smugglers will seek to exploit this 12 km long coastline.
There is no doubting that things quietened down in Daman after the 1993 seizure of 160 slabs of silver, each weighing 35 kg worth approximately Rs 8 crore. The strong presence of various law and security enforcement agencies—the Customs, Police, Intelligence Bureau, CBI, SRP, CRPF and Coast Guard—have ensured that smuggling has been kept under a tight check. Says K.I. Diwan, superintendent, Customs, Daman: "There is a lull because nobody wants to take the risk. Besides, officers have been threatened with immediate dismissal at the slightest hint of smuggling."
But the fear of recurrence persists because over the years smuggling has been accorded social sanction and is viewed by the locals as a small-scale industry. This concern is reflected in the deployment of a huge staff to keep trouble at bay and in a recent high-level meeting of the administrative authorities to discuss the possible resurgence of smuggling. "We are dealing with an extremely porous border and our gravest area of concern is that of security because of the potential of a Purulia being repeted," says Daman Collecter, Dharmendra Sharma.
And so, efforts are afoot to tighten marine surveillance. As of now, air surveillance of the entire west coast is conducted by the 400-strong Coast Guard forces. But as a former Customs collector points out, the Coast Guard has its limitations. "Seizures are beyond their capacity," he notes. "It is physically impossible for them to check on so many fishing trawlers. Besides, the vessels of these smugglers are fitted with high-powered motors and have fairly good communication systems. Also, landings are outdated as much of the action now takes place beyond the Indian territorial waters." It is not so much a question of the smugglers being technologically more advanced as that of marine wings being ill-equipped. Not a single modern speedboat has been acquired by the Customs since it procured Norwegian speedboats in 1974.
Liberalisation, too, has not helped. Customs officals feel that advanced licensing, which allows the inflow of duty-free goods against bogus exports, has minimised the need of surveillance. Rues a senior Customs official: "The smuggling of gold has increased four-fold since Manmohan Singh's economic reforms programme. But no seizures can be made now because the entire opera-tion is as good as legalised."
In this context, it is interesting to note the transformation of Sukar Naran Bakhia. The biggest smuggler of his times who has over the years been arrested (but never convicted ) under MISA, COFEPOSA and SAFEMA, he now lords over acres of the sea face, acquired in typical Bakhia fashion. Having been a law unto himself and the undisputed owner of more than 25 per cent of Daman, several prime properties in Bombay and Goa, this resort has been a comedown of sorts for him. But even with a fading fortune worth about Rs 10 crore today, nobody dares call him anything but Seth. And he has become something of a recluse. Occasionally, he graces a marriage or social event which cannot be avoided with his fleeting presence or watches the proceedings from a discreet distance.
And then, of course, there are the Bakhia wannabes, who haven't restricted their activities to the creeks along the Daman coast. But as of now, the days of open landings of contraband are over. Thanks to its semi-independent status, the former Portuguese enclave enjoys more liberal liquor laws than the dry state that surrounds it—a fact that the tourist town has turned to its advantage, so much so that fishing these days occurs more in distilled than in troubled waters. The authorities have to be on guard, for there is no guarantee that the smuggling dons won't stage a comeback.
