RANCHI: If liquor shop owners of two Jharkhand towns are to be believed, rats have polished off 802 bottles of expensive liquor. The opposition BJP wants the intoxicated rodents arrested immediately.
The bizarre incident has been reported from Baliapur and Pradhankantha in Dhanbad district of the state. An inventory of the stock ahead of the state’s new liquor policy, coming into effect on September 1, ripped the lid off what sources claim is a scam.
The stock check came 802 bottles of liquor short in the shop that catered to the two towns. Someone, probably rats, punched holes in the lids of the bottles. Many are empty, although some are still half-full of liquor.
The agency operator had his story ready. According to him, rats were to blame. He explained at length how the rats must have chewed off the caps and consumed the liquor.
The operator’s ploy didn’t work. The traders were asked to compensate for the losses. According to Assistant Excise Commissioner Ramleela Rawani, a team was formed to inspect the liquor shop, in which 802 liquor bottles were found to be defective.
“The department provided fresh goods; therefore, the department wants fresh goods back. The agency will have to pay for it,” said Rawani.
The money will be recovered by sending a notice to the agency, he said, adding, “I do not care if rats chew on the liquor bottles.” When asked about rats gulping down the liquor, he dismissed it as “nonsense”.
The state BJP is bristling with indignation that no action has been taken against the rats or those who ratted out the rodents. “Rats drank 802 bottles of liquor in Dhanbad, but no FIR has been registered so far. All this is to hide the scam,” said State BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo. He wanted an
SIT formed and the rats arrested along with the key conspirators. Interestingly, this is not the first time that rats have been blamed for stealing intoxicants; previously, they had been accused of consuming 10 kg of bhang and 9 kg of marijuana, seized by the police.
When the matter finally went to the court, it pulled up the officials concerned for their absurd claim about rats consuming the liquor.
As per the new liquor policy, there will be a change in the management and allocation of liquor shops from state control to private licensees through an online lottery system. The move is aimed to enhance transparency in revenue collection and reduce the state’s administrative burden.