Liquor outlets, distilleries to be under CCTV surveillance during Lok Sabha polls in Telangana
Telangana, all 24 liquor production points have been brought under CCTV surveillance to keep a check on the illegal flow of alcohol in the run-up to the May 13 Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Electoral Office Vikas Raj said to prevent unwarranted liquor distribution during the elections, the state Excise Department is monitoring the sale of alcohol and will inform the Election Commission if there is a spike of more than 20 per cent in its production.
The official said all the belt shops (unauthorised satellite shops) of liquor were shut down and the illegal network of distribution was stopped to a large extent. «For the first time in Telangana state, 24 production points (for liquor--distilleries and breweries) all of them were brought under CCTV.
And that was centrally monitored by the Commissioner's office and I (CEO) also have access to that.
The outlets were brought under CCTV surveillance in September 2023 (ahead of state assembly polls).
From then onwards we started monitoring the production of liquor, where it is being transported and whether everything is being accounted for or not.
This way we were able to ensure that liquor movement is regulated and controlled ( during polls), Vikas Raj told PTI in an interview.
As part of efforts to crack down on illegal distribution of freebies, he said there is strict vigil on all godowns including those belonging to e-commerce platforms by forming teams by the GST and CGST departments.
Almost 1,700 such godowns were listed in the state and they were monitored on a
