Tipplers go crazy, loot 3 wine shops
Thieves and tipplers, desperate to get a high, are resorting to looting wine shops under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.
In the last few days, three wine shops were looted and an unsuccessful attempt made to rob a fourth one. The Telangana Wine Dealers’ Association (TWDA) was forced to bring this issue to Hyderabad police commissioner’s notice.
On Saturday, a wine shop owner in Bhoiguda noticed that his shop was looted and approached the Gandhinagar police to lodge a complaint.
During the investigation, police found that the theft happened on April 1. Amid the lockdown, excise police sealed all wine shops to prevent shop owners from violating norms.
The shop owner was checking the CCTV cameras installed in and around the shop through his mobile phone as the shop remained locked due to the lockdown. The owner noticed that the feed from two cameras was not coming through. Suspicious, he went to the shop and noticed the wires connected to the CCTV cameras were disconnected.
The shop owner immediately informed the excise police and the law and order police who reached the spot, broke open the seal and found liquor bottles and cases worth lakhs missing from the shop.
On March 27, a wine shop worker attempted to steal liquor bottles allegedly to be sold to customers at Himayathnagar in the early hours. The manager was alerted by suspicious movement on the CCTV cameras installed in the wine shop premises and rushed to the spot. He found his employee, Shiva Lingam, inside shop packing the liquor bottles into cartons. On seeing the manager, he fled, leaving the boxes.
In another incident, alcoholics tried to break the shutter of a wine shop to get access to the booze. However, their attempt was foiled due to intense patrolling by the Chikkadpally police.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, TWDA president D. Venkateshwara Rao, said, “Most shop owners might not come out and lodge a formal complaint due to various fears. One, they might be having excess stock not revealed to concerned officials. Another is workers of the shop who commit the theft might reveal that the shop is being opened illegally. Due various reasons like this, they might not come out and file a case.”
The TWDA has stated that there are thefts and break-ins of many wine shops in the city by thieves and liquor addicts.
“We requested higher officials to kindly deploy patrolling police officers in local areas to keep an eye on wine shops, which will ensure our shops’ safety,” said Mr Rao.