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SECUNDERABAD: An unidentified offender drilled a hole into a wine shop in Gandhi Nagar and made off with 26,000 worth liquor bottles and 8,000 in cash.

Police are trying to identify the accused by checking the CCTV camera footage inside the shop. Senior Task Force officials said this was the first burglary committed in a wine shop after the lockdown was enforced.

The burglary took place in the early hours of April 1. "The offender, suspected to be around 25 years, drilled the hole into the false ceiling of the wine shop and gained entry between 3 am and 4 am," said Gandhi Nagar SI Ajay Kumar. Even though the incident occurred on April 1, the shop owner noticed it only on Friday while checking the surveillance camera.

"We will soon identify the offender and nab him. No fingerprints were, however, found at the scene," added the SI. A case was registered under sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night to commit offence) and 380 ( theft in a dwelling house) of the IPC.

A week ago, a wine shop worker attempted to steal liquor bottles at Himayathnagar. The offender was allegedly packing the bottles when the manager walked in after the owner found suspicious movement in the shop after looking at the CCTV footages. According to cops, the offender was caught stealing the liquor bottles which he intended to sell to customers.

According to Radhakishan Rao, DCP, Task Force DC , Gandhi Nagar's theft was the first burglary incident in a wine shop in the city during the lockdown. "After the lockdown, a few persons were caught selling liquor illegally at a higher rate. But, this was the first theft case," he said.

Following the theft, the Telangana Wine Dealers' Association has urged police to undertake patrolling near wine shops. "Amid the lockdown, theft incidents are likely to go up in wine shops as there is a high demand for alcohol. We have requested all the three police commissionerates to carry out patrolling near the wine shops," D Venkateshwar Rao, president of the association, said. He said the thefts in wine shops had taken place before. "But now, with the shops closed full time, the offenders are taking advantage. We are concerned about the stocks stored inside the shops," he added.

The DCP, however, said the Task Force staff cannot specifically do patrolling near wine shops. "We are busy tracing Covid-19 patients, their contacts and implementing lockdown guidelines," he added.

