Prices of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and country liquor are going up in Manipur as the Assembly elections are on. But bootleggers say the demand is increasing. There are election-related lunches and dinners everywhere during which there is a heavy demand for liquor. It does not make any difference that Manipur has been dry since 1991. Police and excise personnel confiscated and destroyed country liquor and IMFL worth over Rs. 4 lakh in the past few days.
Bootleggers say that IMFL bottles cannot be transported from Assam and Meghalaya where there is unrestricted sale. This is because Manipur is facing an economic blockade and the police are permitting only essential commodities to be brought under escort in trucks from Assam’s border town. Some enterprising traders have been smuggling foreign liquor from Myanmar, which is just 110 km from Imphal, Manipur’s capital. — A Correspondent
