Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, May 15: The people often come across sarcasm-filled quotes in the social media which say that there is no one to support a drunkard when he trips, but when the economy is down in the dumps, the liquor addicts are the ones who alone have the capacity to lift the economy and make it strong again. We should not dismiss this as a joke because the statistics released by the excise department on Thursday have shown that this is the eternal truth.

During the 10 days since liquor sale was permitted, the state government has got Rs 1,200 crore by way of sale of liquor. This figure was recorded during the period between May 4 and 13 after the liquor shops were permitted to operate.

The first-day sale fetched Rs 45 crore revenue, while the second day it shot up to Rs 242 crore. The sale for the third day was Rs 231.6 crore, Rs 165 crore for the fourth day, and the next day onward the average sale was Rs 100 crore per day, the department officials said.

In the meanwhile, licences issued to 113 wine shops in the state have been suspended for violating excise rule during the lockdown period. The licences of four wine shops have been cancelled.

During about 21,000 raids conducted at various places, 1,989 cases were filed, 471 were arrested and 56,941 litres of Indian Made Liquor (IML) was seized. Around 28,966 litres of beer, various chemicals and 1,47,307 litres of liquor were seized.

Over 656 vehicles including 610 two-wheelers and over 17 heavy vehicles have been confiscated. The excise department said this figure pertains to raids between March 23 and May 5.