Bengaluru, May 4: Booze lovers ushered in the resumption of liquor sales in a spirited fashion in Karnataka onMonday thronging stores hours before shutters went up at severalplaces and made no secret of their celebratory mood.
At some places, they flocked liquor shops even before day-break and performed "special prayers" with flowers, coconuts,incense sticks, camphor and crackers in front of the stores.
Liquor outlets had been shut in the State from March 25 following the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Excise revenue loss during the period was about Rs 2,500 crore, according to government sources.
About 4,500 standalone liquor outlets (CL-2 and CL- 11licence holders), which comprise wine stores and those owned bystate-run Mysore Sales International Limited, outside containmentzones were allowed to be opened from Monday from 9 am to 7 pm withsome restrictions.
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These include customers compulsorily wearing of facemasks andmaintaining social distancing with not more than five people inside liquor shops.
Many customers were indeed well-prepared.
At many places, they came with umbrella, raincoat, newspapers and books and queued up as early as 3 am.
At a liquor shop in Salegame Road in Hassan, the tipplers lit the traditional lamp and incense sticks, performed 'aarati'with camphor and decorated the store with the garland of flowers.
With folded hands, they all performed 'special prayers'.
In Mandya, the tipplers queued up before Martaanda liquor shop before dawn.
An hour before the sales were to resume, a few people burst crackers in celebration.
Some tipplers in Belagavi were more "enterprising."
They wentto a liquor store on Sunday night itself, performed special prayersand placed their "representatives" in the form of slippers, bags and stones in the "social distancing boxes" they themselves had drawn sothat they don't have to stand in queue in the morning.
An elderly woman Dakamma was the centre of attraction in Shivamogga.
The bent body did not bend the determination of this spirited lady, claimed to be 96-year-old, who was heard saying "liquor is goodfor health."
At the taluk headquarters town of Brahmavara in the coastal Udupi district, the queue of the booze lovers was reported to be almost half-a-kilometre.
Long queues were seen at liquor stores at Mariyappana Palya and K R Puram, among others, in Bengaluru.
The store managers too were no less cautious while dealing with customers in the COVID era.
They let the customers enter after spraying sanitisers in their hands, and allowed only those who hadworn masks and maintained social distancing.
To maintain law and order, authorities had deployed policemen in good numbers at these stores and they were seen on duty ensuring that customers maintained social distancing.
The reason for the raid was that a girl belonging to another community was present in the room. However, after inquiry the cops returned as they realised that the girl was not only his classmate but was also his fiancée.
Comments
ALWYN,,,,THERE R SOME WHO WANT TO EXPLORE,,EVEN PARENTS ARE FINE ABOUT THIS BUT SOCIETY IS NOT ,SOMETIMES IT IS OTHERWISE,,,,ONE SHUD NOT INTERFERE TO THE CERTAIN EXTENT,,IN SOCIETY ONE SHUD KNOW HOW TO ACT AND TALK,,,,,ONE SHUD NOT HURT OTHERS,,,,LOVE JIHAD IS SERIOUS,,,THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS WHO DO IT FOR FUN,,,AND SOME FOR DEMEANING THE GIRLS REPUTATION AND SOMETIMES EVEN THE COMMUNITY,,,,,,,SOME SOCIETIES ARE VERY REGRESSIVE LIKE MUSLIM COUNTRIES,,,,,,OURS IS OK,,,ONE SHUD NOT FEEL EVERYTIME IT IS THE CASE,,,,,WHEN A COUPLE ACTUALLY LOVES EACH OTHER THEY SHUD BE ALLOWED,,,,THATS THE WHOLE POINT.......
Doorway to Haven AK47 please help us, many of our girls are victim of Love jihad, this is other example. we are help less
NO DC OR BC CAN STOP THIS,,,,,,ITS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD,,,,THIS TIME THE MALE WAS SAVED BECAUSE GIRL IS CHRISTIAN,,,UNTIL NEXT TIME,,,WEN GIRL IS HINDU,,,HE WILL GET IT FOR SURE,,,,,THEN WE WILL C WHAT DC DOES,,,,,NONESENSE PEOPLE TALKING COURAGE ON WEB FORUMS,,,ITS SO MANLY
Koti-an & other chaddis, BURNOL BODA
CHADDIGALIGE BURNOOL BAGHYA....
Shame !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on dirty mind people...........
its not coming from their back ..its coming from Hindutwa Activists mouth
These shameless goondas have no job but to create disturbance in society. Police should book them for wasting time and trying to create communal disturbance. Arrest the leaders of these goonda parties.
One who act against country's CONSTITUTION and tamperning the rules and contents of CONSTITUTION and playing against law and attacking on any particular community or conducting group clash; igniting communal clash is a terrorist and Government and Supreme Court must announce to whole nation and implement.
Then no one dare to show off with DHARMA;SENA; BHAKT BRIGADE etc.
respected deputy commission,
dear sir,
it has been a practice in dakshina kannada that , the sangha pariwar goons always accompany policemen for any raid , which was complained by them.
why you need sangha pariwar goons along with your police men? your police men are not enough to handle the situation? or the police men are also involved in sangha pariwar activities?
this is specially when they raid \minority houses, church, mosque and commercial places only. entire muslims in dakshina kannada knows this routine. thus the minorities are losing faith in police.
kindly requesting your good selves to stop this practice to show that your team is capable to handle any situation, and your team is not supported by the sangha pariwar goons."
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