Women break bottles at a liquor shop at Kharvela Nagar in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 30: Around 60 local residents, mostly women, ransacked a liquor shop in Kharvela Nagar today alleging it posed a threat to the physical and moral health of the residents.

The owner of the house where the shop was located and a worker employed there were arrested. The police also rounded up 12 persons, out of which five were women.

The residents stormed the shop located behind the Bayanika building in Kharvela Nagar around 11am today.

They said that they had been opposing the opening this Indian Made Foreign Liquor off shop in the area for the last two years. The mob fury resulted in a loss of more than Rs 5 lakh to the owner.

The owner of the house, Santosh Rath, had opened the shop taking a franchise from Alaka Cooperative Society.

Rath said he had permission from the excise department.

Excise officials said they had given permission to Alaka Cooperative Society to open the shop there. “The shop had a valid permission from us. People with vested interests are creating problems by opposing the opening of liquor shops,” said Laxmidhar Behera, superintendent of excise, Khorda.

Officials said most places in the city were residential areas. At the same time, the government wants more such shops to increase revenue. “So, whenever we give permission for an area, it will come under a residential area,” said an official.

The police said they have produced the house owner and a worker of the shop to the court, whereas the persons who ransacked the shop were released on producing a personal recognisance bail bond.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Nitinjeet Singh said the local residents, instead of informing the police about the problems, chose to take law into their hands. “We will take action against them. Besides, we are verifying the licence of the shop,” said the DCP.

n Picture on Page 6