Bootleggers make hay, toddy a hit with tipplers

He said that as the police are busy enforcing the lockdown, it is difficult to keep a check on bootleggers.

BENGALURU: With the country under lockdown for more than two weeks, reports have come forward regarding the sale of illicitly distilled (ID) liquor by bootleggers and toddy by coconut farmers, which is a problem, said officer of exise department condition of anonymity.

“Although the department is trying its best to prevent any illegal activity, it is a challenge because of lack of manpower and infrastructure. There is only one excise inspector, two sub-inspectors and seven guards for every taluk, even when each taluk has almost 100 villages,” added the officer. He said that as the police are busy enforcing the lockdown, it is difficult to keep a check on bootleggers.

“In the Malnad region, there are hamlets where villagers reportedly make ID for their consumption due to a lack of retail liquor outlets. Now, people are flocking to these hamlets and buying 100ml of alcohol for Rs 100,” he said, adding that coconut farmers from South Karnataka are making toddy.

In North Karnataka, which borders Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP), the former toddy makers (toddy is banned in both states now) are reportedly selling synthetic toddy, adulterated with sedatives.

The department has set up special squads and in Belagavi, Joint Commissioner of Excise, Manjunath and his team is monitoring the Nipani check-post through which trucks containing methanol – industrial alcohol – enter. “We are marking the trucks with a skull and dagger sticker. Methanol is poisonous and can cause trouble in the wrong hand,” said the officer. He added that in the absence of neutral spirit (extra neutral alcohol), bootleggers can mix methanol with water to prepare duplicate liquor. In 2008’s, 180 people died in Bengaluru and Kolar due to illegal hooch.

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