Liquor mafia returns to its old ways!

The liquor mafia, which was kept on tenterhooks by the continuous raids of the ACB till a few months ago, is at it again. The Government, which had promised transparency in the liquor trade and introduced a new policy, has not been caring two hoots for the gross violation of its policy.

As the government has gone back on its threat of filing cases and imposing huge fines besides seizing the shops in case of violation of the new excise policy, the liquor mafia returned to its old ways of cheating the public and the Government.

It is now found that one thousand to five thousand belt shops have reemerged in each district with the village elders resorting to unofficial auctioning of these shops at several villages. While most of the shops are selling the liquor ten to twenty per cent above the MRP, belt shops and wine shops cum bars have also emerged within the prohibited precincts of the temples and schools.

As the liquor mafia has been making a mockery of the new excise policy introduced just three months ago, the excise officials have decided to play the role of onlookers while filling their coffers.

Most of the liquor shops have also been found to be under the control of benami people who are either followers or relatives of the political leaders. At some places, the mafia is smuggling liquor into the border districts and selling it with changed labels.

In Anantapuram district, the brother of a former Congress minister has owned up 42 liquor shops in the lottery system. Karnataka liquor, smuggled in to the district, is being sold with changed labels by the liquor mafia.

The mafia has been openly running a belt shop at the Mutyalamma temple in Nasanakota village of Ramagiri Mandalam  from which Raptadu MLA Paritala Sunitha hailed.

In several districts including Kurnool, West Godavari, Palamur, Guntur, Srikakulam, Nallagonda, Warangal and Ranga Reddy, liquor is openly sold at prices higher than the MRP in several shops owned and managed by the politicians and their relatives. In tribal areas of the Khammam district, 78 shops are being run by the liquor merchants and people having connections with TDP and Congress politicians.

(Updated On Sept 20,2012)