Rodents in a Postal Department of Kochi have "ratted out" a suspected friendly gesture of sending liquor through parcel from Bengaluru to Kerala amid Covid-19 curbs. The "smuggling", said to be exposed by a rat that gnawed the parcel attracted by a packet of mixture (snacks) inside it, is likely to invite up to ten-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh for both.
According to Kerala Excise officials, whether it was a friendly gesture or not, the act of sending liquor bottles is an offence under section 58 of the Abkari Act that warrants up to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh.
It was on Tuesday that the Postal Department officials in Kochi came across the parcel with one portion gnawed by a rat. On checking the parcel, officials found three 375 ml liquor bottles of liquor apart from the mixture packet. They informed the excise officials who registered a case.
The sender was learnt to be a Malayali in Bengaluru and it was suspected that he sent the liquor to one of his friends in Kochi as liquor shops in Kerala remain shut for more than a month owing to Covid-19 lockdown.
Excise Deputy Commissioner Ashok Kumar T A told DH that the sender and the recipient were traced and their addressed were being re-verified. The chances of someone else sending the parcel by using the address of others could not be ruled out as a similar modus operandi was often found in drug smuggling, he said, adding that it was for the first time that liquor smuggling through postal department was spotted in the state.
Sources said that the sender had already told the excise officials that he sent the liquor by parcel without knowing the serious consequences involved.