As the lockdown is being enforced across the country, bars and liquor stores have been closed for about a week now. However, people, to get their fix, have reportedly resorted to consuming illicitly distilled (ID) liquor and the demand for it has shot up significantly.
The Excise and Prohibition Department officials have amped up their work across the district in a bid to clamp down on ID liquor. So far, they have destroyed 36,215 litres of FJ wash, a component used in making ID liquor.
They have also seized 897 litres ID liquor, 30 kg of jaggery, nine vehicles, arrested 84 persons and booked 103 cases. The officials have also seized 78.6 litres non-duty paid liquor and 7.8 litres of beer along with 9.15 litres of unauthorised liquor.
Kurnool Deputy Commissioner of Excise and Prohibition G. Chennakesava Rao told The Hindu they had also actively taken up counselling on COVID-19. “There is trend of people across villages to purchase ID liquor. We have been counselling villagers about the disease to make sure that they stay put and follow lockdown rules,” he added.
Talking about hotspots in the district, Mr. Rao said, “We have also identified areas where ID liquor is being sold in a large scale and have been constantly raiding these areas.” Apart from that, the authorities have sealed a few jaggery godowns in the district to restrict production of ID liquor.