In U.P all the brands of liquor are missing from the liquor shops, as there are elections and that too in the closing months of March and April. In this situation liquor consumers will surely be exploited. As there is shortage in supply of liquor, the people in this trade have come up with a novel idea to overcome this problem.They are now mixing English liquor with country liquor, the result is that the taste of the liquor has changed and the consumers have no other choice, but to buy it.
It was okay if it was limited to consumers, but this formula has been adopted by licensed liquor shopkeepers . In the last few days, Khairabad police station of Sitapur district have rounded up such shopkeepers. Police have recovered 765 quarter of country liquor and 17 boxes of English liquor from two liquor mafia. Khairabad SO claims that the two accused were acquiring, mixing and supplying goods from two country and English liquor shops, and they have been doing this for long time. An accused caught was doing supply work for liquor wholesellers.
Despite the strictness, strict vigil and arrests, during the elections the game of fake liquor is continuing. In Mohanlal Ganj and Bakshi Ka talab of Lucknow , there is information that similar type of liquor is being sold. In the Maigalganj region of Lakhimpur district, news of adulteration in English liquor has also been received. Similar information have been recieved from Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bagpat and Bijnor, the prices of this type of liquor has been decided separately. Those who drink, know which shop is involved.
The excise department is silent on this issue . An official of the Excise Department on condition of anonymity says that this problem is not new. Often these types of complaints are there and sometimes they are caught, because of the election, there is lot more strictness, and thats the reason why this kind of liquor has been siezed in large quantities.