Police in one of India’s prohibition states have blamed rats for consuming 900,000 litres of moonshine and other liquor seized from locals that has gone missing.

The somewhat incredulous claim by police in Patna, capital of eastern Bihar state, followed local media allegations that the appropriated liquor, stored in police storerooms had vanished.

Policemen guarding the stores claimed that, over the past 13 months of prohibition, rats had nibbled off the metal caps of the seized liquor bottles and then ‘guzzled’ the contents.

But senior police superintendent Manu Maharaaj, is skeptical and has initiated an inquiry into the missing liquor, which he suspects was either consumed or sold, or both, by a corrupt force.

He has also ordered all police personnel manning these stores to be regularly breathalysed, and if found imbibing, they would be prosecuted and dismissed.

State chief minister Nitish Kumar imposed prohibition in April 2016 as part his election campaign promise to ‘cleanse’ society.