81 Benami liquor licence holders in WG District

ELURU: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has discovered a huge number of benami liquor license holders in West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts. The ACB probe revealed that there are 81 benami liquor license holders in West Godavari district. Some of the white card holders were also doing business in East Godavari district.ACB officials gathered the information from the civil supplies department and enquiring the details of white card holders with deputy commissioner of excise department.Vijayawada ACB DSP Narasimha Rao conducted raids in West Godavari district and found that persons below poverty line were running liquor shops.For instance, A Ramakrishna is running a wine shop in Pallamkurru village of Katrenikona mandal in East Godavari district though he is a white card holder of Nadipudi village in West Godavari district. At least, 26 of the 81 white card holders from West Godavari district own wine shops in East Godavari district. The remaining were reportedly running liquor business in West Godavari district itself.The government has conducted auctions to 473 liquor shops in West Godavari district in 2010 and earned Rs 509 crore through liquor trade licences.Attracted by the huge earnings in liquor business some new persons entered the business and enhanced the auction price to crores of rupees. Later, the bidders colluded with the officials of the excise department and have been selling liquor at more than the MRP. ACB also registered cases against benami license holders.Currently, the ACB sleuths were enquiring as to how these white card holders obtained liquor shop licences by investing crore of rupees and from where did they get such huge amounts. With some liquor traders at large in the district, the ACB has launched a hunt for them.The probe agency said it has no intention of troubling the poor, innocent white ration card holders, who were lured into becoming benamis. It appealed to the benamis possessing white ration card holders to speak the truth and depose evidence before the ACB so that real culprits could be brought to book.