Post increase in liquor smuggling by ‘fake fishermen’, Pulicat residents bat for restricted Tasmac timings

Annoyed over drunken men moving about and bootleggers posing as fish vendors to sneak liquor into Chennai, residents of Pulicat, Tiruvallur district, have demanded that Tasmac shops in the locality be closed down at 2 pm instead of being open till 8 pm.

One of the residents said, “The lockdown is still there, but restrictions on vehicular movements have been eased. To escape police checking, people who want to make a quick buck by smuggling booze from Tiruvallur, pose as fish vendors and hide liquor bottles amid fish in insulation boxes.” Though fishing has partially resumed after the lifting of the mandatory annual ban, the fish market in Pulicat has been witnessing a heavy crowd, thanks to the Tasmac shop in town, said D Nithyanandam, a resident and an activist. “A lot of people visit Pulicat posing as fish vendors and hide liquor bottles in the insulation boxes,” he said, adding, “We reported it to the police, but the practice continues unabated.” He further said that men from 40 fishing hamlets come to Pulicat to get drunk and have become a nuisance for the residents. Gajendran, another resident, said with the increase in cases in Ponneri Taluk, the bootleggers pose a threat of spreading it to the locals.

Following several complaints by the residents, Panchayat president Malathi Saravanan held a meeting with the ward councillors at a private school and passed a few resolutions including keeping the Tasmac shops open only till 2 pm. “We are planning to meet the Tahsildar and apprise him of our decisions,” said Saravanan.