Hyderabad: The Prohibition and Excise department has disclosed that 17,952 cases of illegal sale of liquor were booked in the state in the past six years, Of these, as many as 8,233 were registered by the Vikarabad Excise police station limits.
Excise officials disclosed this data when Telangana Congress official spokesperson Indirashoban Poshala sought information under the Right to Information Act (RTI) with regard to belt shops in the state.
The authorities replied that there were no belt shops but cases regarding illegal liquor sale were registered.
According to the information provided by the authorities, the Excise income was 26 per cent of the total state revenue in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. After the formation of the Telangana state, the excise income had increased to 65 per cent of state revenue.
Ms Indirashoban said that on December 30 and 31, 2019, the state earned `450 crore in just two days from the sale of liquor, which is 4 per cent higher than on the corresponding dates in 2018.
During the Lok Sabha elections, the state recorded the sale of `1,884.55 crore worth of liquor. the excise officials disclosed in the RTI reply.
Ms Indirashoban pointed out that the liquor was one of the main reasons for crime against women and children and the increasing criminal tendency. Despite this, the TRS government has not taken any measure to regulate the liquor sales, she added.
The Congress spokesperson cautioned that if the state government has not initiated steps to regulate the sale of liquor, womenfolk would start an anti-liquor movement.
