Who’s drinking seized booze in Bihar? Rats, of course

PATNA: Rats in dry Bihar have begun to drink so much that they might soon die of liver cirrhosis. And they are indiscreet and indiscriminate about it, making no distinction between desi and IMFL, beer and brandy. Officials are pretty sure this is happening.
When 200 beer cans confiscated by police and kept in the storeroom of the excise department were found on Monday with neat holes on their aluminum-and-steel top, police in Kaimur district, were quick to blame the alcohol-craving rodents for it.Bhabhua SDM Kumari Anupama Singh, after taking stock of the loot, said, “It looks like the doing of rats. There were around six to seven cartons in the godown and all the cans were empty.”
Nawal Kishor Choudhary, the Kaimur DM, also blamed the rats. “The beer cans were gnawed into by rats. If it was the work of humans then the cans would have been cut properly. We have ordered a detailed investigation into the matter.” This is not the first time rats have been blamed for liquor that went missing. In May 2017, several lakh litres of alcohol that went missing in Patna were swigged by rats, according to officials.
A few cops had then reportedly told SSP Manu Maharaaj that “drunkard rodents” had gulped the booze seized from people flouting prohibition laws.
The SSP had later ordered a probe. “It is possible that if rats stay at a place where water is not available, they can consume liquor alternatively. But I do not agree with claims that the rodents can guzzle hundreds of litres of liquor. They cannot drink so much as they have a natural aversion to high concentration of alcohol,” said Gopal Sharma, scientist at Zoological Survey of India, Patna.
“Officials... are either drinking or selling it and then blaming it all on the rats,” VS Dubey, who retired as chief secretary of undivided Bihar and Jharkhand, said.