Telangana toddy crisis: Govt tries to create border-bottlenecks for addictive drugs

With Telangana facing a crisis due to hundreds of people falling sick from the withdrawal symptoms of adulterated toddy, huge consignments of alprazolam and diazepam are being smuggled from neighbouring states, authorities claimed.

The state government's decision to crack down on illicit and adulterated liquor has resulted in many people falling sick from the lack of the chemicals that were mixed in the liquor.

Since September 13, hundreds of people have been hospitalized with seizures, body pains, with some exhibiting psychotic behaviour in districts like Adilabad, Mahbubnagar and Nizamabad.

As a result, toddy suppliers have started supplying limited quantities of toddy laced with diazepam and alprazolam to the addicts, under pressure from the families of patients, media reports had suggested.

"We believe that the anti-anxiety drugs are being brought into the state from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha. Once it is smuggled inside, it is supplied to toddy traders, who then mix it with the drink to make it potent," M Amruth Rao, deputy director, DCA told the Times of India.

Officials have also initiated a joint probe to crack down on these chemicals, and have been raiding all bulk manufacturers and medical stores to check if the medicine is being sold without a prescription.

Transport officials are also manning inter-state checkposts,on the lookout for possible suspects.