The accused residing at West of Chord Road in Rajajinagar said that he had bought the liqour from the Air Force Canteen in Mekhri Circle, with the help of a warrant officer. (Representational) The Bengaluru City Police Thursday booked a real estate agent for allegedly storing 85 litres of alcohol—20 times above the permissible limit—inside his residence at Rajajinagar. According to the police, the accused, identified as Mani (61), had stored the alcohol in 114 bottles, all of 750 ml each.
“The accused residing at West of Chord Road in Rajajinagar said that he had bought the liqour from the Air Force Canteen in Mekhri Circle, with the help of a warrant officer. However, he was not able to provide any bill or records of procuring the same,” an officer from Basaveshwaranagar police station said. Officers from Magadi Road police station was also part of the searches conducted at the accused’s residence, the police added.
The police added that a search was conducted at the accused’s residence following a tip-off. “On enquiring with excise officers, we were told that the maximum quantity of alcohol a person can store at home at a time is around four litres. On finding the accused storing over 20 times more than the permitted quantity, we have arrested him after filing a case here,” the officer said. According to the FIR, the accused has been charged under section 34 (penalty for illegal possession) of the Karnataka Excise Act.
Another senior official said, “This is a clear misuse of the provisions made available to those in service and ex-servicemen. Such provisions should not be used for merry-making for certain agents connected to them. We will check how the bottles were procured and whose help was behind the same as well.”
Earlier this year, an alcohol vendor in the city was booked for allegedly selling liquor worth Rs 52,841 to a single customer, on the day lockdown restrictions were eased to allow wine shops to function. While only 2.3 litres of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) or 18.2 litres of beer is permitted to be sold legally per person, the vendor had sold 17.4 litres IMFL and 35.7 litres of beer.
