The number of shops in Raipur is few which leads to crowding in front of them on most days. (File photo: PTI)

While there has been a general decline in the reporting of cases of theft owing to the ongoing lockdown, burglars broke into two liquor shops in Chhattisgarh's Raipur to steal their stocks.

The incident occurred during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday but was not reported as the shops are closed.

The Chhattisgarh government has included liquor stores in the ongoing lockdown.

Police sources said that burglars struck two liquor shops in Amlidih and Avanti Vihar areas of the state capital. Interestingly, the burglars did not take cash that was lying in the stores but only took the liquor.

At Avanti Vihar, burglars made a hole in the wall in the liquor shop and took forty bottles of beer. At Amlidih, burglars took away 20 cases of hard liquor by cutting open the grill.

In Chhattisgarh, retail liquor outlets are run by the state government and not private contractors. The number of shops in Raipur is few which leads to crowding in front of them on most days.

As a consequence, the state government decided to close down liquor shops to maintain social distancing in the ongoing lockdown. Initially, the shops were closed till March 31 but the closing has been extended to April 14.