Since the lockdown began on March 22 following the Janata Curfew, only a few people have been arrested for liquor smuggling. According to the police, barely a dozen persons have been arrested for smuggling liquor in different districts of the state during this period.
Two persons were arrested for working as carriers in a liquor smuggling racket on April 1 in the Para locality in Lucknow. There was a third accomplice there who had managed to escape. Two crates of liquor were seized with 96 pouches of country liquor.
On Wednesday, thieves broke into a liquor shop and absconded with liquor worth lakhs of rupees. The incident took place at Alinagar area in the Chandauli district, where the thieves managed to break into the shop from the rear gate.
"They remained in the shop for more than half an hour and took away bottles of liquor and also the cash kept in a drawer," said Avadesh Jaiswal, the shop owner.
Incidentally, the CCTV cameras were working even though the shop was closed due to the lockdown. The thieves did not realize that and their entire act was captured on the CCTV cameras. The video footage is now going viral on social media. Their face is clearly visible in the footage and the police hope to nab them with the help of the video.
Meanwhile, a senior police official said that the smuggling of liquor is not being done on a large scale during this period because of the intensive checking.
"Moreover, most people do not consume liquor during the "Navratri' period and in the lockdown, we are searching and questioning everyone who is on the road. So the possibility of liquor smuggling is almost negligible," he said.
However, regular consumers of liquor claim that their respective favourite brand is easily available, even though at a hefty price.
For instance, a bottle of Royal Stag that is normally sold for Rs 600, is currently available at Rs 1,600. While Blenders' Pride that is priced at Rs 800 is being sold for Rs 2,200-Rs 2,400.
Though liquor shops remain shut from the outside, sources say that liquor is being secretly made available to 'known customers'.
(With Agency Inputs)