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BENGALURU : Karnataka Excise Minister K Gopalaiah on Friday informed that liquor of sale will be banned in the state for the next two days.
Announcement comes ahead of weekend curfew that will come into effect from Friday at 8 pm and stay till Monday 5 am.
"It has been decided that there will not be any sale of liquor during the weekend curfew. I have directed the officials to issue an order to this effect," Gopalaiah told reporters.
Karnataka has reported 107 new cases of the Omicron variant of Covid taking the total count to 333 in the state
Gopalaiah cited the spike in cases in the state, especially in Bengaluru for the decision.
Gopalaiah said the liquor shop owners had given a representation to allow them to run their shops but due to rising Covid cases, their plea was not considered.
Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant appealed to people not to venture out unnecessarily.
"The weekend curfew will come into effect from 8 pm tonight. Please do not go to various places unnecessarily and cooperate with the police for your own safety," Pant told reporters. He said only a set of activities is permitted including essential and medical services.
"Those who want to go to the hospital have to furnish supporting documents. Those travelling should also possess tickets and related papers," the police commissioner said.
He added that the police would not issue any passes for people to travel within the city.
Pant warned that those violating the Covid-19 norms will face action under the Natural Disaster Management Act (NDMA).
The violators will be detained and their vehicles will be seized.
The Karnataka government issued a set of prohibitory orders including weekend and night curfews for two weeks to check the rising Covid cases.
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