Foreigner forced to empty liquor bottle in Kerala, cop suspended

PTI, Jan 1, 2022, 2:22 PM IST

AKerala police team allegedly forced a foreigner to empty the liquor bottle he had purchased from a state-owned liquor outlet for new year celebrations, video of which has gone viral, casting a shadow over the LDF government’s efforts to revive the state’s tourism sector.

In the video, the foreign national is purportedly seen emptying the liquor in the presence of a team of police personnel on Friday in Kovalam, a top tourist destination in south Kerala.

Taking serious note of the incident, the state government on Saturday suspended a police officer who allegedly forced the foreigner to pour out the liquor.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a report from the state police chief on the matter, official sources said. Terming the incident as ”unfortunate”, state Tourism Minister P A Muhammed Riyas said the bid to torpedo the government’s efforts to revive the state’s tourism sector will not be tolerated.

The incident occurred when the foreigner was returning on his two wheeler after purchasing liquor from a BEVCO outlet in nearby Vellar.

He told reporters that the police team carrying out checks, intercepted his two-wheeler and during the inspection found liquor bottles in it.

When he was asked to produce the bills of the purchase, the foreigner told them that he had forgotten to collect it from the BEVCO outlet.

Although he stressed that he can produce the bill, the police allegedly insisted that he empty the bottle.

The man, who had been living in Kerala for the last four years, told the media that he has no complaint against the police as they were his friends but expressed his displeasure over them for spoiling his new year celebrations.

He opined that for tourists, Goa is much friendlier than Kerala.

Reacting to the incident, the Tourism Minister said, ”It is an unfortunate incident.” He said the concerned department would initiate action against those officials who worked against the interests of the state’s tourism sector. Riyas said efforts will be taken to attract more tourists to Kerala.

If any officials are trying to torpedo the government’s initiatives, that will not be tolerated, he said.