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Evidence of police officers helping a prisoner buy alcohol goes viral
A video image of a handcuffed prisoner being assisted by police officers to buy alcohol, has led to an inquiry.
The incident, which was captured on camera by a passerby in the Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh, has outraged citizens and, according to local reports shows a prisoner in front of a liquor shop allegedly being assisted by the police with the purchase.
According to India Today, the prisoner was booked under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), when travelling between the police station and court.
The incriminating video, which was shared further online by Mamta Tripathi copying in the Uttar Pradesh Police has since prompted the authorities to order an investigation, has also allegedly led to the two police officers being suspended.
India is currently one of the fastest-growing markets for alcoholic drink sales, according to recent studies.
Data from a Statista study was recently revealed to show how, in 2022, alcoholic drinks generated US$47,500 million ( £39,133 million) in revenue in India with the market also forecast to grow by 8.86% per year (CAGR 2022–2025).
The information gathered illustrates how, during the pandemic, Indian states sought permits for liquor stores to reopen and how following this, on the second day after reopening, Karnataka reported a highest-ever single-day liquor sales, totaling 197 crore (£19.7 million). Similarly, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh also both experienced record sales.
Last year, authorities revealed that 22 people have died and several others have been hospitalised after drinking unregulated spirits in India. The deaths, which occurred in two villages in the eastern state of Bihar, were reported to have been provoked by alcohol bans in force in several Indian states, driving people to buy from a thriving black market for cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries.
According to the International Spirits and Wine Association of India, out of an estimated five billion litres of alcohol consumed in India around 40% is illegally produced.
Indian police stations have previously been under fire after it emerged that 30,000-litres of seized booze reportedly went missing from police stations in India. In an altogether unusual case of disappearing booze, police had blamed the vanished alcohol on rats, as most of the liquor bottles were made of plastic.
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