Hyderabad, December 19: TIPPLERS in Andhra Pradesh aren’t the only people on a high. Authorities have found that the prices of the drinks they consume are on a high as well.
A massive crackdown by the anti- corruption bureau ( ACB) on the liquor mafia in the past couple of days has exposed a major scam in which traders made big money by marking up the prices of alcoholic beverages by as much as 30- 40 per cent higher than the maximum retail price ( MRP). And that is just one of the unscrupulous methods they used to maximise profits.
The ACB found liquor traders had been paying kickbacks running into hundreds of crores every year to politicians, the police, excise officials and even the media to keep their illegal activities under wraps.
The action began following the seizure of ` 3 lakh in cash from an excise official in Kurnool district recently. The raids on the residences and retail outlets of the liquor traders, which continued over the weekend, brought to light a wide network involving the traders, politicians, police and excise officials, besides the local media.
ACB officials seized diaries, computer hard disks and account books, which clearly mentioned how much money each trader paid in the form of bribes to various officials and the local mediapersons.
A liquor trader from Guntur district said each of them paid approximately ` 50,000 as bribe every month for every shop. In fact, raids in Guntur district on Friday yielded certain records which showed that each trader was paying an amount of ` 79,000 as bribes per month to the police, excise officials and the media.
“ There are a total of 6,875 wine shops in the state. Around ` 35- 40 crore is paid every month as bribe. The yearly bribe turnover is ` 400- 500 crore per year. This is apart from the periodical kickbacks paid to the politicians at the time of elections,” the trader added.
According to excise department sources, liquor traders resort to various methods to recover costs and maximise profits. One of them is increasing the price of liquor by 30- 40 per cent over the MRP fixed by the AP Beverages Corporation Limited, the state- run sole distributor of liquor. The traders also sell liquor through unauthorised and unlicensed outlets in rural areas, convert retail outlets into unauthorised bars and keep their shops open beyond stipulated hours.
While the excise officials are paid to keep mum on the marked up prices, unauthorised bars and unlicensed shops, the police are bribed to let the outlets remain open beyond stipulated hours, the trader said.
The local media gets a cut as they often resort to blackmail, threatening to expose the racket. Politicians, too, are heavily bribed to allow the business to flourish, the trader said.
There are also allegations that politicians, including MLAs and ministers, operate liquor syndicates in the districts by proxy.
While the ACB remained tightlipped over the names of politicians in the seized documents, state excise minister M. Venkataramana has promised stern action against the liquor mafia.
Courtesy: Mailtoday