Sale ban has liquor makers in a bind

Two persons died as a result of drinking spurious that has flooded the market but the government instead of taking action against the adulteraters is punishing us by banning our products, liquor industry players alleged today. They said that they also suspected the involvement of some bureaucrats and the police as the seized spurious liquor bottles had proper stickers, just like as on the original ones.
The industry that contributes 25 per cent to the total revenue is in a soup due to deaths of the two persons caused by drinking Khukri Rum and Virgin Whisky brands of liquor. “The government’s ban on our products without any investigation just days after it gave us a clean cheat does not make sense,” said Sabin Lal Shrestha, president of Nepal Liquor and Cigarette Industries’ Association (NLCIA).
There is a huge gang involved in making the spurious duplicate liquor, Shrestha said accusing the government of banning some of the industry’s best-selling products even when it did not find anything wrong after tests. “The government took liquor samples from liquor industries and gave us a clean cheat, only to ban some of our products when the second person died,” he added.Police had conducted raids in Boudha and Dhapasi a few weeks ago and confiscated a huge stock of spurious liquor of various popular brands that contained methanol — a deadly substance — but bottled properly with stickers like original ones.
“Those involved in running a duplicate liquor factory were arrested but set free after nominal fines,” Shrestha said adding that they should be punished severely as adulateration was only not only black marketeering but also a crime against humanity. “The adulteraters prepared fake stickers, mixed methanol in the liquor and sold the poisonous mixture but the government is treating us as like culprit,” he said.
Amit Goswami, chief executive officer of The Nepal Distilleries Pvt Ltd that manufactures Khukri Rum, a popular brand that is being blamed for the recent deaths, opined that thegovernment should take steps to check duplicate and adulterated liquor instead of banning popular and genuine brands.
Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce (FNCCI), said that the government should protect local brands. “If any industry indulges in adulteration, it should be punished but if the liquor industries are not doing so their brands must be protected,” he said.