Tipsy rodents strike again: After Bihar, alcohol in Rajasthan now goes missing; rats suspected

Jaipur: Like their cousins in Bihar, it seems even Rajasthan’s rodents do not believe in keeping matters bottled up.

An excise department official in Udaipur, when asked to present before a local court alcohol seized from a resident eight years ago, turned up with a pile of empty bottles, a lawyer said.

The official told the court that it was possible that the liquor had been polished off by rats. The department had seized 36 beer bottles and 83 quarter bottles of liquor from the Udaipur resident on 16 June, 2009.

“I had requested the court to summon excise department officials along with the seized liquor,” Ganpat Chaudhary, representing the accused, told PTI. “Everyone was surprised seeing the empty bottles that the excise department presented in court,” he said.

The employee initially said the bottles were empty because of “natural reasons”, and, when quizzed, added that they might have been consumed by rats.

The court will now hear the case on 15 May, Chaudhary said.

Last week, the Bihar police said rodents had consumed more than 9 lakh litres of alcohol the police had seized from people flouting prohibition laws in the state.

The issue came up after media reports said the seized bottles were missing from police stores.