Karnataka: Booze lovers stand in serpentine queue to buy liquor in Hubbali

Kishan Rajput | TNN | May 4, 2020, 12:25 IST

Shops having CL-2 and CL11-C license selling liquor in Hubballi

HUBBALLI: Long queues from few metres to a mile were witnessed at liquor shops in Hubballi on Monday. Booze lovers thronged at the liquor shops to buy their favourite brand early in the morning after 43 days of long waiting to guzzle the drink.
The booze lovers were seen gathering in front of the shops at 7am itself, they were eagerly waiting for the clock to strike 9. When the shops opened there was no limit for their joy when the buyers were coming out of the shops, those were standing in queue were seen asking how many bottles maximum one can buy and what was the price of certain brands?
Liquor shops having CL-2 license and CL-11 C license MSIL shops were allowed to sell the liquor. As a result, a huge crowd was witnessed in front of these shops. Adequate police bandobast was made at these shops and they were ensuring that people maintain social distancing.
Senior police officials and inspectors were seen doing rounds and taking all the measures to control the crowd. In Dharwad district has 73 CL-2 license shops and 25 MSIL shops. Liquor sale was banned in the containment area and surrounding one-kilometre radius of the containment zone.
According to the witnesses, the shops were selling a maximum of 2.16 litres to individual and 12 bottles of beer. Buyers were interested in buying hard liquor instead of beer, wine.