Reopening bars have apparently brought the crime rate downThiruvananthapuram: In what can be called some brilliant number game, reports have emerged saying that the number of cases related to distilling and sale of spurious booze and arrack have significantly gone down since the reopening of bars and beverages outlets in the state.
The love for high left many desperate, forcing them to turn to fake or poisonous alcohol and other intoxicating drugs, post the bar shutdown.
Around 1,13,758 cases were registered and 33,327 arrests made in 1,75,549 raids conducted by the excise department in the last 13 months.
According to the NDPS Act 5,718 cases were registered and 6,657 kilograms of marijuana, 2,374 marijuana plants, drugs like hashish, charas, brown sugar, 8,947 pills, 39 injection ampules and 40 drug sprays were seized during this span.
There has been a tremendous increase in the abkari related cases while there was a ban on bars. 3,204 liters of spirit, 13,612 of spurious alcohol, 6,219 liters arrack and 51,853 liters of foreign liquor were also seized in the 30,910 abkari cases.
The excise recently destroyed 2,96,047 liters of ‘koda’ or poisonous arrack which was being hoarded. Excise commissioner Rishiraj Singh said that the decrease in the number of alcohol outlets have led to an appalling increase in bootlegging across the state.
As per the COTPA Act, around 520 tones of tobacco materials were seized and destroyed by the excise in the past 13 months.
The government even collected a whopping amount of Rs 1,50,05,856 as fine. Black money worth around Rs 30 crore was also nabbed after the inspections at the check posts were made stricter.
Thirty two kilograms of gold and 26 kilograms of silver jewelry were captured at the check posts and handed over to the concerned departments.
Different products worth Rs 4 crore was seized at various check posts while trying to smuggle it across the border to evade tax.
The police also took into custody 2,059 vehicles which were being used for illegal activities.
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