Kerala: Vigilance conducts raid in beverages outlet in Idukki

The vigilance conducted a raid at Thadiyampad Beverages Outlet in Idukki on Thursday (Sep 21). The inspection started at around 8 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m. The vigilance recovered Rs 46,850 from the hands of the employees.

Idukki: The vigilance conducted a raid at Thadiyampad Beverages Outlet in Idukki on Thursday (Sep 21). The inspection started at around 8 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m. The vigilance recovered Rs 46,850 from the hands of the employees.

There were eight people in this beverage outlet, including two female employees. One of the employees escaped during the vigilance raid. Vigilance also received evidence of three employees receiving money from liquor vendors through Google Pay.

Meanwhile, this year's Onam festival saw record-breaking sales of liquor from Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco). There was a sale of liquor worth Rs 759 crore from August 21 to August 30. The government would receive Rs 675 crore in tax from this.

The day before Onam, on Uthradam, had the biggest sales. At the Bevco outlet on Uthradam, more than 6 lakh people accessed the store and purchased liquor worth Rs 121 crore.

In August 2023, liquor worth Rs 1799 crore was sold. Whereas, the sales of alcohol in August 2022 totaled Rs. 1522 crore. A total of 70,000 cases of Jawan rum were sold this year. The Bevco outlet in Tirur in the Malappuram district had the highest sales, followed by Irinjalakuda in the Thrissur district.

Earlier, it was projected that Kerala sold alcohol worth Rs 665 crore in the first nine days of Onam until Monday (Aug 28). This is a rise of Rs 41 crore from the previous year's record sales of Rs 624 crore during the same time. The Bevco outlet in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district recorded the highest liquor sale of Rs 1.06 crore on Monday. This was followed by Ashramam Bevco outlet in Kollam which recorded liquor sales of Rs 1.01 crore.