Criminals cash in on coronavirus lockdown; steal from bars, homes, sell for high price

As tipplers get desperate with each passing dry day during the lockdown, criminals wanting to make the most of the situation are breaking into bars and even houses to steal liquor bottles.

Even as police handle complaints of bars and houses being broken into and liquor cases getting stolen, they are also arresting miscreants selling alcohol several times more than the original price.

At least three bar owners, whose establishments have been sealed by the excise department in the wake of the lockdown, reported that their bars have been broken into and liquor bottles stolen.

They discovered the thefts when they went to check the seal fixed by the excise department that instructed them to report if they found a fresh seal over the ones they had fixed.

The city police on Tuesday registered seven FIRs under the Karnataka Excise Act and other laws related to the illegal sale and theft of liquor.

Ajith C Ameen, manager of Vaishnavi Palace Bar and Restaurant in Banashankari 6th Stage, lodged a complaint with the Thalaghattapura police station, saying he had closed the bar on March 21, following the government’s lockdown order.

On April 6, he received a call from his friend about a theft in the bar, following which he rushed to the place and found that thieves had broken the rolling shutter, looted money from the cash counter and made away with some liquor bottles. He alerted the excise officials and the police.

On the same night, thieves had also broken open SV Bar and Restaurant in Kembathalli in the same police station limits and fled with liquor bottles.

In the early hours of April 5, miscreants also broke open the rolling shutter of Kavitha Garden Bar in Horamavu Main Road and stole 12 IML cases, worth Rs 48,000. The incident came to light in the morning.

Houses rummaged

On Wednesday, Dinesh Preek, who was taking care of his father-in-law Tulasidas Chamberlain’s house in Frazer Town, found the main door damaged and the cupboard broken. Preek found 10 liquor bottles missing and Rs 5,000 cash stolen. A mixer grinder and some watches have also been taken. Chamberlain is presently in Spain.

Illegal liquor sale

The Rajarajeshwari Nagar police registered an FIR against four people who sold 180 ML liquor in tetra packs, worth Rs 60 and Rs 90, for Rs 500 on bikes at Dr Vishnuvardhan Main Road.

The Rajajinagar police have also arrested 33-year-old Sivaram, a resident of Prakashnagar, who illegally sold liquor for double the price at an empty site in Prakashnagar. Sivaram was detained and remanded to judicial custody.