Telangana: Spurious toddy sale goes unchecked in rural Nirmal

As per sources, the outlets are allegedly procuring intoxicating substances such as Chloral Hydrate and Alprazolam from neighbouring Maharashtra

Nirmal: Spurious toddy goes unabated in the district even as officials take steps to curb it as indicated by recent instances of enforcement.

The Prohibition and Excise Department’s officials say that the district has 200 licensed outlets and 34 shops operated by toddy tappers cooperative societies. The district has not registered deaths caused by consumption of spurious toddy. However, certain owners of toddy outlets are allegedly indulging in adulteration of the toddy.

---

Sources said that outlets located in rural parts of the district are reportedly selling spurious toddy in order to make a fast buck, posing a threat to the villagers. They are allegedly committing the offence by procuring intoxicating substances such as Chloral Hydrate (liquid state) and Alprazolam from neighbouring Maharashtra using innovative means.

The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau and the Excise Department officials caught five persons from the district who were transporting Chloral Hydrate and Alprazolam drugs worth Rs 10 lakh in two cars from Maharashtra to Telangana recently. In another case, a toddy trader was arrested by sleuths of Task Force wing of Prohibition and Excise Department on charges of smuggling Chloral Hydrate and Alprazolam in October.

During interrogations, the prime accused Ramesh and Rama Goud confessed to manufacturing the substances by establishing a unit in Chityala of the town. They admitted to procuring Chloral Hydrate (liquid state) from Mumbai and to converting it into solid state using cold water. They admitted to targeting toddy traders in the district.

When asked, the department superintendent Abdul Razak said steps were being taken to prevent manufacturing of spurious toddy in the district, notorious for registering deaths due to the menace. Cases of spurious toddy comparatively came down in the last year. As many as 32 samples of toddy were sent to a laboratory for analysis. Results of the examination will be dispatched to the department in a month.