A 21-year-old made a success out of his toddy business with a ‘twist’, only to have it boomerang and get him arrested.
K Suresh Goud of Malkapur, a small village on the Telangana-Karnataka border in Tandur mandal of Vikarabad district, mixed marijuana powder with toddy. Soon his business became a runaway hit as villagers wanted more of it by the day.
The new recipe concocted by Goud found great patronage from villagers so much so that in just a matter of six months his business grew more than eight-fold. His toddy was nicknamed ‘Black Dog’ by his ‘fans’ as it enhanced ‘kick’ when compared to others.
Before inventing the ‘recipe’ he used to sell just around 100 bottles of toddy per day. When he launched this magical potion, the villagers took no time to fall for it and made a beeline to get ‘high’ with marijuana toddy.
The toddy consumers never had any clue what makes them crave for it, Karankote Sub-Inspector E Edukondalu told The Hindu. He said that Goud sold sold 800 to 1,000 bottles of toddy per day each costing ₹10.
He said that the accused managed to get the ganja from one of his acquaintances, Hussainaiah Goud from Gulbarga of Karnataka every two months.
“Hussainaiah supplied 500 gm to 700 gm of ganja every two months and Goud used to mix at least 30 to 40 gm per day in his toddy,” Mr. Edukondalu said.
However, this ‘new arrival’ packed in used beer bottles saw his rivals run for their money as they could not find their sales picking. When enquired, they learnt that Goud mixed some ‘substance’ with toddy to improve the taste and enhance the ‘kick’.
Soon, police got a tipoff that he was mixing ganja powder in the toddy.
“After an initial enquiry, we raided his shop, collected samples and booked him under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,” Mr. Edukondalu said.
