Hyderabad: The opening of liquor vends in Andhra Pradesh on Monday as part of implementing the relaxed guidelines on lockdown led to chaos, with people lining up outside liquor shops and ignoring physical distancing norms as the government pegged the sale at Rs 40 crore.
Of the total 3,468 retail liquor outlets run by the state-owned AP State Beverages Corporation Limited, 2,345 were opened in various districts following easing of lockdown restrictions by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The first day of liquor sale in the state after 45 days witnessed two suicides in a single family. A wife and her daughter committed suicide allegedly after being beaten by the woman's husband in Chittoor district's Palamaneru, said the police.
Chokka Lingam, 55, an alcoholic used to live with his wife Jagada, 50, and daughter Nandhini, 22. He would often fight with them for money to buy liquor, according to a police official.
After he bought and consumed liquor on Monday, Lingam reached home and started assaulting his wife and daughter after being questioned about his drinking. Both women allegedly killed themselves later in a state of depression.
Palamaneru SI Sridhar said a case has been registered and investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, a report from SPS Nellore district said that one person collapsed and died of sunstroke while waiting to buy liquor at Podalakuru village, but Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Bhushan denied any such incident. "Nothing of that sort happened in my district," he said.
Technical glitches in computers in government-run liquor outlets caused abnormal delay in sales.
In border districts like Chittoor, SPS Nellore, East Godavari and Krishna, tipplers from neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Telangana joined the serpentine queues to purchase liquor. The crowd was so heavy that at a couple of places, the sale had to be suspended to maintain order.
(With inputs from PTI)
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