Stepping up its efforts to control ‘illegal’ sale of liquor, the government has directed excise officials to seal all the liquor shops in the State till further orders and also put an additional lock from the department to discourage law-breakers.
A senior official said the government had taken the reports of illegal liquor supply in the media seriously and warned that the Excise Superintendent concerned would be held responsible if the sale did not stop from the shops despite being locked. The Station House Officer concerned would be booked if the violations were noticed, the government warned, according to a senior official of the Excise department.
After the officers brought to the notice of the government that liquor shop owners were opening the shops during night time and shifting the bottles to secure places, the government decided to seal the locks of the shops. “We will seal the locks and if there is any tampering their licence will also be cancelled,” an official explained. Moreover, the department would put its own lock and the key would be at the disposal of the area official.
Pictures and videos of liquor sales during the lockdown period in the media and also on social media have angered the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who, during his recent press conferences, categorically stated that liquor sales would not be permitted despite the revenue loss. Apart from posing a health hazard, the illegal sale has hit the image of the police department already burdened with the Covid-19 lockdown work.
An official, on condition of anonymity, said liquor stocks in most of the rural areas had drastically reduced but those in the city still had some stocks. “Rural shops were able to sell even during the lockdown period as there was not much monitoring unlike the city areas,” he explained. With the CM not accepting sale, excise officials would more alert now, he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people addicted to liquor continue to throng the hospitals with withdrawal symptoms but the government doesn’t want to budge, saying containing corona is more important than any other issue now.
