The condemned stock has been sealed and stored in the corporation’s 23 procurement depots: File photoThiruvananthapuram: It would be hard on tipplers but the Kerala government is about to dump one-and-a-half lakh litres of Indian-made foreign liquor! The government does not have the heart to sell the booze, which is valued at Rs 15 crore, because it was reclaimed from disgruntled bar owners two years ago.
The police intelligence bureau has warned the government against selling the stock that was bought back from 312 bars that were forced into closure by the previous United Democratic Front government. The government had paid the bar owners Rs 15 crore for the stock.
The Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the government-run alcohol monopoly, will transport the bottles to its Travancore Sugars and Chemicals plant at Pulikkeezhu near Tiruvalla and dump them into huge pits. This would be the largest stock of alcohol to be destroyed in Kerala.
The condemned stock has been sealed and stored in the corporation’s 23 procurement depots. The burial would be held under the supervision of excise officers. The staff would be required to open each bottle and pour it into the pits. The empty bottles would be auctioned off.
