From Suicide To Drinking Paint: How People Are Taking Extreme Measures For Alcohol In Lockdown

While the lockdown continues in India, people are no doubt missing going out, meeting their friends, having a drink at the pub and wandering freely in their cities.

The restrictions in place has also meant that liquor shops are shut and there is no way to buy booze. It has resulted in people taking extreme measures, trying to disguise the police, breaking lockdown orders and trying hard to find booze, by any means possible.

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It surely hasn't ended well, but here are instances when people have tried being the not so daredevil and done ridiculous things to get their hands on alcohol.

1. Man hurls abuses at cops and spits on them after running from shelter home in search of alcohol

In an incident reported from Maharashtra¡¯s Pune, a homeless man, who was staying in a COVID-19 relief camp, allegedly fled the shelter home as he was not getting alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes there.

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As reported by ANI, after being caught by the police, the man hurled abuses at the officers and spat on them for stopping him.

2. Kerala man commits suicide after liquor ban

A Kerala man said to have suffered severe withdrawal symptoms after the statewide ban on liquor sales committed suicide, late that month.

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After the state imposed ban on liquor after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown which has now been extended till May 3, the man said to be alcoholic committed suicide.

3. Two men strangled another to death, after he forced them to sell alcohol amid COVID-19 lockdown

A 30-year-old man was allegedly killed by strangulation by two others in Gurugram's Bilaspur, after forcing them to sell alcohol in the midst of the the coronavirus lockdown.

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According to a various reports, the accused have been identified as Hemant and Sandip and they hail from Nurpur village which is located in Bilaspur. Subhash Singh, the victim was also a local of the same village.

The three of them were drinking at a funeral home when Subhash asked them to sell alcohol. Hemant and Sandip said that it led to an argument and that escalated quickly.

Tempers flared as Hemant and Sandip attacked Subhash. They allegedly strangled Subhash with a towel leading to his death.

4. Man posing as milkman tried to smuggle whiskey bottles in milk cans, got busted by Delhi cops

Two weeks back, Delhi Police caught a man from Uttar Pradesh trying to smuggle liquor under the garb of milk bottles.

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According to an India Today report, the man named Bobby Chaudhry, a resident of UP's Bulandshahr was caught speeding past a police picket in New Delhi's South Avenue. The cops grew suspicious and stopped him. On inspecting him, the police found seven bottles of whiskey.

5. Unable to find liquor, three men in Tamil Nadu died after drinking paint and varnish

In Tamil Nadu, three men died after they were unable to find alcohol due to the lockdown which ended up making them drink paint and varnish.

Three men who died were identified as Shivasankar, Pradeep and Sivaraman, were rushed to Chengalpattu government hospital, after they were found vomiting around and in critical condition.

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All three were said to be alcoholic and had resorted to consuming paint mixed with varnish after they coudn't find booze.