₹100 cr liquor from Tasmac shops moved to safety

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:12.04.2020

After several burglaries at liquor outlets across the state during the ongoing lockdown, authorities at the Tamil Nadu state marketing corporation (Tasmac) are moving stocks from at least 1,000 shops to their depots.

Staff have been asked to empty all outlets they deem vulnerable to attacks from desperate tipplers. Of the 5,300 Tasmac outlets across the state, at least 1,000 shops, located in remote places, are considered easy prey for tipplers.

Tasmac officials say every shop has at least Rs 10 lakh to Rs.15 lakh worth liquor stocked. So far, officials have removed ₹100 crore worth of liquor to depots that are considered safer. At least Rs 50 lakh worth of liquor may have been stolen at various places across the state so far and in many other places the loss is still being ascertained, they add.

In Chennai, burglars broke open a Tasmac shop, number 433, at Rail Nagar near Koyambedu in the wee hours of Saturday and decamped with cartons of liquor, leaving a small quantity behind. A police team on patrol spotted six cartons of liquor outside the shop around 2am and informed the Tasmac authorities. The cartons were taken to the police station and a case was registered. The Tasmac officials are ascertaining the loss caused.

As the ongoing lockdown enters the third week, the number of attempts made by tipplers to get liquor or go in for substitutes is increasing. A few instances of people burgling or trying to burgle Tasmac liquor outlets have been reported from Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. In Chengalpet, at least three people desperate for liquor consumed a chemical and lost their lives, while two people died in central Tamil Nadu due to similar reasons.

A Tasmac employee said the corporation, already reeling due to the no-sale rule during the ongoing lockdown, is incurring additional costs while transporting huge stocks of liquor from vulnerable outlets to godowns.

A tasmac shop before the lockdown came in to effect