SRINAGAR: As the lockdown has extended into the second month, the tripping points are clearly visible. In Jammu, a liquor shop was looted during the preceding night. Though the police said the theft was the handiwork of the burglars, the loot actually reflected the demand upsurge.

Reports appearing in the media said that not far away from the Police Post at Amphalla, burglars during wee hours on April 12, managed to borrow a hole in the rare of the shop.

“Very smartly, a hole has been created behind the shop as it was not visible to someone and after entering into the shop, the burglars have decamped with liquor bottles,” a report appearing in a Jammu newspaper said. It said the Sudershan Wine Shop is located near Amphalla, just some meters away from Police Post Rehari. The report said the loot is the handiwork of a two to three persons.

The Pacca Danga police have registered a case and the investigation will follow.

Liquor and wine shops in Jammu and Kashmir are closed since March 24. This is adding to the pressures on a huge population that is under lockdown. That was perhaps the key factor that certain politicians were demanding that the government should keep the liquor shops open.

It was this tripping point that permitted the liquor shops in Assam and Meghalaya to open on Monday from 9 am to 4 pm.

The two governments were under pressure from people to open liquor stores. The ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance partners, including the BJP, had objected to closing liquor stores when the lockdown was announced.

Kerala has also started easing alcohol availability during the lockdown. A decision to home deliver alcohol prescribed by doctors, announced by the Kerala government, was put on hold by the Kerala High Court earlier this month.

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