VIJAYAWADA: After five deaths and hospitalisation of 29 others, the Prohibition and Excise Department, on Tuesday, placed under suspension Vijayawada East Excise Inspector P Venkata Ramana for negligence in preventing the running of a bar from unauthorised premises, basement of a hotel, in Krishna Lanka here. The condition of one of the hospitalised person is said to be critical.
Interestingly, the bar has been running from the same premises for the last nine years right on the feeder road of National Highway No: 16 but the Excise Department never bothered to take any action against those who were running it. The bar is located in the cellar of Hotel M which should be used for parking vehicles.
While the Excise Department is working overtime to ensure that there would be no repeat of Monday’s tragedy anywhere in the state, the police have registered a case in which City Congress president Malladi Vishnu figures as A9 as his relations own the Swarna Bar and M Hotel where the bar is located in Krishna Lanka. The excise department officials, after visiting the bar, revoked the licence issued in the name of Bhagavathula Sarath Chandra. Meanwhile, the police have sent the samples of liquor and water to AP Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) at Hyderabad.
“I can’t say what kind of adulteration took place. The police have sent the samples to APFSL. We will know only when the analysis report comes,” Excise Deputy Commissioner YB Bhaskara Rao told ENS. He, however, said samples were being collected from all shops all over the state and were being sent either to APFSL or the department’s regional chemical laboratory at Kakinada. In Krishna district, 20 teams are collecting samples for sending them for analysis.
The police have listed nine persons as accused in the case registered in connection with the tragedy. They are: A1: Bhagavathula Sarat Chandra, A2: Kavuri Purna Chandra Sharma, A3: KA Lakshmi, A 4: Malladi Balatripura Sundaramma, A5: Kalidasu Venkata Ramana, A6: Rajipindi Malakonda Reddy, A7: Tata Venkateswara Rao, A 8: Nunna Venkata Nageswara Rao and A9: Malladi Vishnu. Cases under section 328 of IPC and section 37 of the Prohibition and Excise Act (both deal with adulteration leading to death).
In an unusual development, Director General of Police J V Ramudu visited the premises of the bar and personally inquired how the tragedy occurred. After going around the bar, the DGP told media persons that the police would not spare anyone regardless of their stature. He said that all steps were taken to prevent the accused persons from fleeing Vijayawada. “The condition of one of the persons who fell ill after consuming liquor at the bar yesterday is critical,” the DGP said, referring to his visit, to the hospitals where the sick were undergoing treatment.