The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has unearthed major irregularities in the sale of liquor through the outlets of the government-owned Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) in the State.
The agency’s Operation Moonlight that commenced on Saturday evening and continued well into the night bared glaring discrepancies in almost all the 78 outlets where checks were held in the Statewide operation.
Various irregularities, including overpricing customers, denying buyers, especially migrant labourers, the bills of items sold, and flouting directions to display the prices of stocked liquor, were detected. Some officials were also found to have received commission from liquor companies for hoarding cheap varieties of liquor to coerce customers into purchasing the expensive ones.
The inspections were conducted at Bevco outlets in Thiruvananthapuram (11); Ernakulam (10); Kozhikode (six); Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Malappuram and Kannur (five each); and Thrissur, Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasaragod (four each).
Excess/shortfall in cash
The vigilance sleuths found discrepancies between the sales revenue and the cash stored in the counters in 70 outlets. While shortfalls were detected in a majority of the shops, there were also excess amounts in some places. The glaring lapses in cash management have prompted the VACB to bring such outlets under scrutiny in the days to come.
A close examination of the liquor brand-wise sales revealed many outlets in Kasaragod, Malappuram, Palakkad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Idukki and Pathanamthitta sold certain brands in quantities manifold than the others. The finding has led the Vigilance officers to suspect the possibility of Becvo officials conniving with the agents of liquor companies to boost sales.
At many outlets, numerous liquor bottles were kept aside as damaged and unfit for sale. However, the inspections revealed that many such bottles, mostly plastic ones, remained in tact. The highest number of bottles that were discarded in such manner were found in outlets in Alathur in Palakkad (885), Neeleswaram in Kasaragod (881), Guruvayur in Thrissur (758), Eranhipalam in Kozhikode (641), Kureepuzha in Kollam (615), and Ulloor South in Thiruvananthapuram (600).
The managers of some outlets in Ernakulam, Idukki, Kannur and Palakkad were found to have hired workers on daily wages without the permission of Bevco. The VACB also reported that the Excise department had inexplicably not inspected liquor outlets in Thazhe Chovva in Kannur for a year.
VACB director T.K. Vinod Kumar said further investigation would be instituted into the irregularities that had come to light during the raids.
