Man Sets Liquor Store Ablaze After Staff Declines to Sell Him Booze After Hours
A man in India allegedly set a liquor store ablaze after being turned away from purchasing alcohol. (Photo: Silas Stein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
On Sunday, The Times of India reported that a man was arrested for setting a liquor shop on fire during the Diwali holiday after the store turned him away.
Police said the man, Gummadi Madhusudana Rao, went to the liquor store to purchase alcohol on a Saturday evening. The store had closed up operations for the evening and sent him home, thus refusing to sell him liquor. A heated exchange ensued, and he stormed off.
He apparently returned on Sunday evening with a gasoline canister and torched the shop.
The staff claimed they tried to stop him, and he responded by threatening to douse them with gas and set them alight. The team ran for their lives, and by the time crews arrived to put out the blaze, the store was nearly destroyed.
The irony of the arson during a holiday like Diwali is not lost. Diwali is one of India’s biggest holidays. The “Festival of Lights” celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and the festival typically lasts five days, according to CNN.
The Pune Mirror reported on Tuesday that the crime rate “surged” within the city as three different violent crimes were reported at Bharti Vidyapeeth, Hadapsar and Market Yard police stations.
Whiskey Raiders reported that in late October, police in Haryana, India seized 1,100 pouches of black-market booze disguised as medicine.
The whiskeys were confiscated by local officials, and the company that shipped them was charged with violating excise laws and attempting to ship the alcohol into a dry state.
As of Oct. 31, the investigation was still underway, and police claimed they would be reaching out to the employees who sent the whiskey from a privately owned company.
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