Hyderabad: With liquor outlets ordered shut till the end of polling on Friday, tipplers queued up to purchase liquor early on Wednesday. Security was beefed up at the check posts on the borders with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
A nodal officer from the excise department has been allotted to all 15 constituencies in Hyderabad. Deputy commissioner C. Vivekananda Reddy said the nodal officer would directly report to the returning officer or the assistant commissioner of police concerned. He said there were control rooms at the state level and for the city to receive complaints connected to illegal liquor storage, transportation and distribution. "After getting a complaint from the control room, the officer should act within-an-hour. If he fails to do so, action will be taken."
Warning liquor outlets to stay shut, Mr Vivekananda Reddy said, "If we found any violation of the rules, we will cancel the licence and book cases."
A total of 11,950 litres of illegal liquor worth Rs 25 lakh has been seized at different locations in the city.
