Liquor making unit faces women’s wrath

DEOGARH:  A group of women of Asurkhol village ransacked a country liquor manufacturing unit at Tileibani-Bindipur within Deogarh police limits on Thursday.  The agitators first staged protest in front of the unit alleging that it was a source of nuisance in the neighbourhood. Subsequently, they ransacked the unit with sticks. 

The women said due to the liquor manufacturing unit, menfolk of the village have become habitual drinkers. Now, some teenagers have even adopted the habit of drinking. “The liquor unit has become a menace and is causing disturbance in our personal lives. The men are wasting their hard earned money on liquor and under its influence, frequently picking up quarrels with their wives and family members,” said an agitator.

Besides, since the liquor unit is located close to the national highway, fatal accidents have become a regular affair, she added. On being informed, Deogarh sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Pratyush Kumar Mohapatra, tehsildar Pallabi Nayak and IIC Surendra Kumar Nayak rushed to the spot and held discussion with the agitating women. When the agitators did not relent, police detained around 20 women to bring the situation under control.

Sources said the women have been demanding to shift the liquor making unit from the village for the last around three years. However, neither the Excise department nor the district administration is paying any heed. In a similar incident on May 5, womenfolk of the village had ransacked the unit and destroyed the liquor stock.