Rats drank seized alcohol in India, say police

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Officers in an Indian district are pointing at rats for liquor that has disappeared in police storage.

In India’s Bihar state, alcohol has been banned since 2016, and authorities have been undertaking operations to seize and destroy the illegal drink. First-time offenders of the Prohibition Bill will need to cough up Rs50,000 (nearly P37,000) to avoid jail time.

In Kaimur district, beer bottles and cans seized in a raid have been found empty in a police storeroom, with holes on bottle caps and cans, reported Gulf News yesterday, Oct. 1.

Local sub-divisional magistrate Kumari Anupama told the press yesterday that it seemed rats had destroyed the containers.

She said the cartons containing 11,584 bottles were still “well-packed” even if their contents had damage. Anupama made the discovery while inspecting the contraband before they were destroyed in public.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for Patna Manu Maharaj said his subordinates told him that the rats used their “razor-sharp incisors” to make their way through the cans and bottles. The officers said they themselves had seen the rodents drinking the alcohol.

The state government requires stored liquor to be destroyed regularly.

Rats also supposedly chugged a million liters of liquor in police stations in May 2017. Authorities ordered pest extermination following the incident.  Niña V. Guno /ra

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