As the count down for gram panchayat polls having begun, the illegal sale of liquor in rural areas is also increasing by the day. The Hassan police on Tuesday raided four places and seized liquor worth over Rs. 74,000 and taken four persons into custody.
The Hassan Extension police seized liquor worth Rs. 54,720 from Ramachandra (35) from Madapura in Hassan taluk, which he was transporting by his car from Hassan to his village. The police have also seized his vehicle. The Holenarsipur police arrested Srinivas (53) from Mudalahippe village for carrying liquor worth Rs. 6,955. His motorcycle has been seized. The Arsikere Rural police have taken Lokesh (44) from Murundi, a village in Arasikere taluk, and seized liquor worth Rs. 9,470 from him. In another incident, the Belur police have taken Shante Gowda (53) from Bantenahalli into custody for stocking liquor worth 3,840. All the arrested have been remanded to judicial custody.
Liquor seized
Mandya Staff Correspondent reports:
Several instances of petty shopkeepers and political activists illegally stocking liquor were reported from different parts of the district, with hardly a day left for the gram panchayat elections.
Meanwhile, 8,328 contestants, including 3,875 women, are left in the fray for the elections being held on May 29 for the 3,826 posts in 230 gram panchayats in Mandya district. The district police have raided several places in the district and booked at least 180 cases till Wednesday morning against many persons for allegedly stocking liquor, the police said.
According to a senior police official, 1,521 litres of liquor had been seized during the recent raids.
“In all, 48 cases of stocking liquor have been reported from Srirangapatna, Pandavapura, Nagamangala and K.R. Pet taluks,” P.S. Kantharaj, Election Expenditure Observer, told The Hindu. According to Vidyakumar, observer for Mandya, Malavalli and Maddur taluks, about 50 cases of similar nature were reported from the places coming under her jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the Excise Department seized 720 litres of India Made Liquor (IML), 61 litres of toddy and eight vehicles from different parts of the district, so far.
The Excise and the Police departments have appealed to the people to share any information about liquor stocking or distribution to the police through phone number 08232-224888 (police) or the Excise Department on 08232-220313, 08232-236126, 08232-243938, 08236-255651, 08236-252559, 08230-263524 and 08234-286225.
