Telangana liquor shops registered record sales on Tuesday following the announcement of lockdown from Wednesday. A total of Rs 125.41 crore worth liquor, including beer, was sold in just four hours on Tuesday.

The sales were in normal volume during the morning, but after the lockdown decision was taken by Telangana CM KCR, consumers started rushing to liquor shops to stock up. As the day progressed, large queues were seen at the shops.

The shopkeepers had a difficult evening as the crowd gathered in front of their stores did not follow any social distancing norms. At some places of twin cities, shopkeepers literally requested customers to maintain proper queue with physical distance with a hand-held public address system from inside the shop. As they couldn't control them, they sought the help of the police patrolling teams to manage the surging crowd.

By the time night curfew started, the shops sold more than 90 per cent of the liquor and beer stock leaving behind only premium brands. Telangana State Beverages Corporation Limited (TSBCL) officials stated that the wine shops registered a sale of liquor and beer worth Rs 125.41 crores on Tuesday.

Liquor and beer worth Rs.12.78 crore and Rs.12.56 crore were sold in Khammam and Nalgonda districts which share a border with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Liquor worth Rs 9.33 crore was sold in Hyderabad alone. Officials said Khammam and Nalgonda districts registered more sales probably due to bulk purchase of popular liquor brands like Royal Stag, McDowell’s and Blender’s Pride.

Authorities suspected that a few customers could have made bulk purchases to sell it in black to persons during the lockdown. Wine shop owners purchase different brands of liquor and beer from the 19 depots of TSBCL in the State after making payments online, they added.