Telangana: No effect of the lockdown on the liquor business in Peddapalli

Peddapalli: It seems that lockdown has no effect on liquor sales, which are going on unabated in Peddapalli district. In view of the widespread of novel coronavirus, the State government has implemented lockdown till May 7 and banned sales of all non-essential items including liquor across the State.

There are 74 liquor shops in the district. Following the government's orders, the Excise department officials have sealed some of the liquor shops but forget to seal the liquor godowns, some of which are away from the shops. This prompted the liquor shops owners to shift the bottles to belt shops during nights and selling each bottle three times more than the actual price. They are reportedly selling a bottle worth Rs 540 for Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.

After getting information about this, the officials of Excise department conducted raids a few days ago on wines shops at IB Colony in Godavarikhani town, Adivarampet and Begumpet villages in Ramagiri mandal, Peddapalli town, Sultanabad and Palakurthy mandals and seized liquor bottles worth thousands of rupees and filed cases against the persons involved in liquor mafia.

The Excise officials warned those involved in illegal liquor business to stop it, otherwise, stringent action will be taken against them. An officer said that they took the stock details before sealing the shops after the lockdown was implemented. Once the lockdown is removed, the officials will again check the stock as per the details. If there is a difference, then cases will be registered against the owners of these shops, he warned.

Meanwhile, locals alleged that a few people are running liquor mafia with the support of some political party leaders. Hence the officials are not focusing on controlling illegal liquor business, they added.