Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday, July 4, asked the Deputy Commissioners in the state to be vigilant about the spread of Zika virus along with dengue cases. "The Aedes species of mosquitoes also spread the Zika virus. As the Zika virus has been found in the neighbouring state, it is necessary to take precautions in the state. One Zika virus case has been detected in Shivamogga. However, it is yet to be confirmed. Though Zika virus is not so dangerous, the Health Department needs to be vigilant," he said in a video conference meeting of all DCs and CEOs and officers of local authorities.

The minister also asked the officers to detect the dengue hotspots and destroy them on utmost priority. The directions were also given to open fever clinics where more cases of dengue are reported, and the testing of persons with symptoms of dengue. "If dengue is detected at an early stage it can be cured and if delayed, deaths occur. Deaths related to dengue should not occur. Taking precautions to avoid deaths should be the primary concern," he said.

Considering the rising cases of dengue, the state government has capped the prices of dengue testing at Rs 600. Karnataka has witnessed a rise of 42 per cent in dengue cases as compared to last year and 6,187 positive cases of dengue have been detected in the state while six persons have died from January to July 2. Cases have been reported from Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Mysuru, Haveri, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, and Dakshina Kannada districts.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday, July 4, requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to allocate necessary funds for the modernisation of the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGNAB) and the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) and additional IPS posts. The Chief Minister met the Union Home Minister at his residence in Delhi, along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

During the hour-long meeting, various issues were brought to the Union Minister's attention. To control and curb drug and cybercrimes, the Chief Minister requested Rs 88 crore for TGNAB and Rs 90 crore for TGCSB for the procurement of modern technology and equipment. According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief Minister emphasised the necessity of reviewing the Indian Police Service (IPS cadre) every five years and urged the Minister to conduct the review for Telangana, which was last done in 2016.

At the time of state bifurcation, Telangana was allocated 61 IPS posts, which are now insufficient for the new state's requirements, he said and requested an additional 29 IPS posts. The Chief Minister also highlighted the need for establishing security force camps in Adilabad, Mancherial, and Komaram Bheem Asifabad districts, similar to those set up in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra to counter left-wing extremism. He requested that these three districts, previously impacted by left-wing extremism but later removed from the SRE (Security-Related Expenditure) scheme, be reinstated under it.

Given Telangana's extensive borders with neighbouring states, he stressed the importance of focusing more on the state's security. To combat left-wing extremism in Telangana, the Chief Minister requested the establishment of CRPF JTF camps in Kondavai village of Charla Mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, and Alubaka village of Venkatapuram Mandal in Mulugu district. He informed the Union Minister that the CPI Maoist Committee is attempting to expand its influence by leveraging the favourable terrain in the forested hills along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. The JTF camps would help control and eliminate the movements of this Maoist special unit.

Revanth Reddy also requested the release of Rs 18.31 crore, pending for the last four years, which constitutes 60 per cent of the central share for SPOs (Special Police Officers). He also highlighted the difficulty in adhering to the rule of only recruiting ex-servicemen and former police personnel as SPOs in Maoist-affected areas, as such personnel are not readily available.

The Chief Minister also requested the Union Home Minister's cooperation in resolving long-pending issues related to the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana Reorganisation Act. He urged for a harmonious resolution of disputes related to the distribution of government buildings and corporations listed under Schedule 9 (as per Sections 53, 68, and 71 of the Act) and the institutions under Schedule 10 (as per Section 75 of the Act).

He emphasised the need for justice for Telangana in claims made by Andhra Pradesh over assets and institutions not mentioned in the Reorganisation Act.

AC Kala was a name long forgotten by the residents of Mannar, a village in Alappuzha district, until the Kerala police arrived at her former husband Anilkumar’s house on Tuesday, July 2, and began to inspect the septic tank. Until then, Kala was for them the 20-year-old woman who had left her husband and infant son to live with her lover in the Gulf in 2009. It was only on Tuesday that people in the neighbourhood became aware that she may in fact have been murdered and buried right next to them. 

While the inspection of the septic tank did lead to the finding of items suspected to be human remains, only a scientific examination can confirm this. The incident has left Mannar in shock, not just because Kala may have been murdered, but also because the accused in the police custody, including Anilkumar himself, are “well-behaved men” from the locality.

TNM visited Mannar on July 3 and spoke to neighbours and relatives of the accused and the victim about the mysterious disappearance and suspected murder of Kala that is said to have taken place 15 years back. 

Kala and Anilkumar had a ‘love marriage’ in 2007 and had a son together. Soon afterwards, Anilkumar moved to South Africa for work. It was when he visited home a while later that Kala’s alleged affair was discovered and she went to live with her family. However Kala’s brother AC Anilkumar told TNM that she left from her natal home also after some time and that he hasn’t  seen her since. 

According to a neighbour, they were told that Kala had left Anilkumar to live with another man who works in the Gulf. “We heard that she went to live with her lover. That is what Anil told neighbours and what Kala’s family also believed till now.” 

However, according to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Mannar police, Anilkumar, along with three accomplices, murdered Kala on the Valiya Perumpuzha Bridge in 2009. They transported her body in a car to an unidentified burial location and destroyed evidence. Notably, the FIR does not mention where the body was buried. 

The FIR said the motive of the crime was Anilkumar’s suspicion that she was in an extramarital relationship with another person. 

For 15 years since the alleged murder, Anilkumar lived and worked in Kerala as a contract worker and mason. It was only around three months back that he left for Israel in search of work after facing financial difficulties at home. According to one of his friends, Anilkumar does construction work in Israel too.

Kala’s disappearance

Kala’s family lives merely 2 km away from her former husband Anilkumar’s house. Both her parents passed away a few years back. 

Her brother told TNM, “I do not know if my late father had filed a missing complaint back then, I hadn't. In my eyes, my sister was the woman who left her one-and-a-half-year-old boy and husband who was working hard to earn for the family. So I did not wish to see her. Until yesterday, when the police officials informed me about her apparent death, I believed that she had left with her lover.”

According to Kala’s brother, it was 15 days after Kala left that Anilkumar returned to Kerala. Another 15 days later, he remarried, the brother said. However, one of his neighbours said the remarriage didn't take place then. “Kala left her son at an age when he didn’t know who his mother was. Anilkumar remarried some five or six months after Kala left,” the neighbour said. 

After she left, local residents said there was often talk about her being seen in various places. “I have heard on multiple instances that people saw her in Alappuzha or Ernakulam. So it had never occurred to me that she could’ve been harmed or killed,” her brother added. 

Anilkumar’s neighbours shared a similar belief. “Until some time ago, Kala’s brother himself had told us that she was in Ernakulam. After a while, her family told us that they also didn't know where she was,” a neighbour told TNM. 

AC Anilkumar’s wife and Kala’s sister-in-law, Shobhana Kumari, told the media that she had received two calls from a person claiming to be Kala. “The caller told me that she was living with a man named Sooraj in Palakkad and that there was no need to look for her,” Shobhana said. 

“If she died before that, then who called me,” Sobhana asked, adding that in the belief that Kala would come back one day, she hadn’t even removed Kala’s name from the family’s ration card.

Another neighbour of Anilkumar told TNM that for almost a week now, police have been present in the neighbourhood. However, the residents only came to know about the suspected murder on July 2. 

“We heard that they were inspecting the surroundings of the house, but we had no clue what this was about. On Sunday, June 30, the police took some men in the locality to the station. Even then, we didn't know what was going on. The next day, July 1, they took the men into custody. It was only yesterday, July 2, when I asked the cops who came, that I got to know that this was in connection with Kala’s suspected murder. Now we are hearing many stories through news channels. It is through the news that we got to know what allegedly happened in 2009.” 

Meanwhile, Kala’s son, a teenager, told media persons that his mother has not been killed. “I am being mocked for this at school now. How can I go to school?” he asked.

Mystery unfolding after 15 years 

How was the alleged murder of a woman, who was not even reported missing, revealed after 15 years?

Police say that it was an anonymous letter received by the Alappuzha Superintendent of Police two weeks back that set things in motion. Not only did the letter reportedly describe a brutal murder, but also named the four accused. 

Reports suggested that it was Radhu, the wife of Pramod, one of the accused, who penned the anonymous letter that set off the investigation. Pramod and Radhu had been living separately for a few months allegedly over financial disagreements. 

However, when TNM met with her, she denied this and expressed shock. “I came to know about this through news channels. I lived with him for over 11 years, but I didn’t have any clue about this. This is not a minor crime and it is shocking for me,” she added. 

After a few days of observation, the police arrested Jinu, Pramod, and Soman. Anilkumar was not arrested as he is in Israel. He is yet to be brought back. The men are related to each other and live in the same locality.

The four have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen the offender), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 

On Tuesday, July 2, the police, with the help of Thiruvalla-native Soman, inspected the septic tank at the house of Anilkumar. Soman has assisted the police in recovering bodies in several murder cases. 

Objects suspected to be the remains of a human body were found from the septic tank during the inspection that started at 2 pm and went on till 6.30 pm on Tuesday. 

Soman told TNM that items such as elastic used in underwear, a locket, a hair slide, and other objects resembling human remains were found from the septic tank. “I have collected as many samples as I could. Some chemical was used to dissolve the contents of the tank, so most of it was powdered,” he said. 

A police source told TNM that it is not possible to conclusively state that the items found from the septic tank are human remains, given that it has been 15 years since the incident allegedly took place. Soman also clarified that the remains unearthed looked like bones and other human parts, but only a forensic analysis can confirm what they are.

Insufficient evidence?

TNM spoke to SK Adityan, a criminal lawyer practising in Ernakulam, about the case. According to him, custodial confession is not enough to secure a conviction. “Recovery of the body is required, as material evidence is important in court. In case the body is not recovered, there should at least be a direct witness to the incident,” he said. 

However, if the accused repeats the same confession that they gave to the police in front of the magistrate, it can be considered as evidence under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 164 (Magistrate to record statement of a person or his confession). “This confession has more validity and can be used against the accused,” Adityan said. 

‘Police may have forced confession’

TNM spoke with the family members of the accused, who said they were all in shock and didn't know about the alleged murder until the arrests. 

One of the accused Jinu, a contract worker aged 40, is Anilkumar’s cousin. His mother told TNM that even though she had heard of Kala, she had never seen her. 

Pramod’s mother also told TNM that they didn't know anything about the case. “When the police asked Anilkumar’s father who his friends were, my son was also named. But he did not actually have any role in it. The police might have forced a confession out of Pramod, but that is not the truth. I do not know what the truth is. His father and I are in agony now,” his mother said. 

Kala’s brother said, “When the police told me that they murdered my sister, I could not believe it for a few minutes, as I personally knew all the accused. All of them were seemingly good men. Even after Kala left, I had stayed in touch with Anilkumar. I don’t know how they could behave like nothing had happened. They should be punished.” 

After the Kallakurichi illicit liquor tragedy rocked the state last month, the familiar demand to enforce total prohibition has resurfaced in Tamil Nadu. However, while the demand often comes as a knee-jerk reaction each time such a tragedy occurs, what data tells us over and over again is this: prohibition is a proven policy failure across the world. It also needs to be pointed out that the private production of liquor is already banned in Tamil Nadu. The 65 lives in Kallakurichi were lost to privately produced liquor, even with this ban in place.

Why? Lack of enforcement, corrupt local police and very simply the victims’ inability to afford the authorised liquor sold at Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) outlets. As TNM reported earlier, the victims in Kallakurichi are daily-wage earners who make Rs 300 to Rs 500 a day. Where TASMAC charges at least Rs 135 to Rs 175 for the smallest bottle of liquor (180 ml), Kannukutty – the prime accused – was selling arrack at Rs 60 to Rs 70 per packet (50 ml).

In May 2023, 22 people were killed after drinking spurious alcohol in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. In Kallakurichi, apart from the horrifying death toll of 65, over a hundred were hospitalised.

Both tragedies, like others before them in Tamil Nadu or in the rest of the country and other parts of the world, make one thing clear: mere laws banning alcohol production or consumption do not stop the actual production and consumption of alcohol. When the price set by a state monopoly is too high, private, illegal players enter the game without fear of quality checks and provide cheaper alcohol. When liquor sales are banned in one state, bootlegging networks spring up, bringing it in from neighbouring states instead. To deliberately ignore the nature of the problem – that people will drink one way or another – has contributed largely to liquor poisoning deaths.

The abysmal track record of states with prohibition

In 2022, two of India’s states where alcohol is banned – Gujarat and Bihar — saw a total of  at least 115 deaths due to methanol-laced illicit liquor. In Bihar, where 73 of the deaths were reported to have occurred, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remarked to mediapersons at the time: “Those who consume alcohol will die, there is nothing new to this.” His unfeeling comments were emphasised by the state government’s refusal to offer monetary compensation to victims and families of the deceased. Nitish even went to the extent of calling BJP MLAs – the Opposition members at the time – “drunkards” for demanding his resignation over the tragedy.

These political squabbles overshadow a more urgent concern. The 73 deaths added to the state’s growing tally since the implementation of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. Even before this tragedy, Bihar’s prohibition policy had invited the criticism of former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana who in 2021 called it an “example of lack of foresight in drafting legislation.”

News reports on the Bihar tragedy read dismally similar to the Kallakurichi tragedy. The Telegraph made an indicting observation after the Bihar deaths: “One local doctor described ‘body after body’ arriving at his clinic from the surrounding villages and having no medication to treat those still alive, a byproduct of India’s broken public health system, one of the most underfunded in the world.”

They also highlighted two other significant factors. One, that the Bihar government had reportedly ignored the warning of Dr Shaqueel Ahmad, a public health activist whose policy advice they had sought before implementing the ban in 2016. The doctor had reportedly cautioned that enforcing a complete ban would be difficult and instead recommended stricter regulations. But Bihar was set for Assembly polls at the time and many believe that the Act was implemented to appeal to women voters.

Secondly, the danger of criminalising the consumption of alcohol is that there is a high likelihood of increase in fatalities from illicit liquor. Victims may fear approaching a healthcare facility before it’s too late. 

Further, a 2023 report by the National Human Rights Commision (NHRC), accused the Bihar government of suppressing the actual death toll. According to the NHRC, at least 77 deaths had occurred as opposed to the state’s initial number of 42. “The state administration tried to minimise the gravity of the incident,” the NHRC report said. 

The policy was amended in 2022 (before the tragedy) after an exasperated Supreme Court pulled up the Bihar government for failing to conduct an impact assessment before enforcing the alcohol ban. The apex court’s ire stemmed from discovering constant clogs at the Patna High Court and trial courts in the state as judges were tied up daily in bail hearings over charges of liquor consumption. The 2022 amendment sought to expedite the trial process and focus on convicting illicit liquor suppliers rather than consumers. According to PRS Legislative, 45,000 FIRs were registered in Bihar between 2018 and 2020, while the number of cases pending trial increased by four times what courts were used to. 

It’s also worth noting that in 2023, in the face of increasing criticism, the Bihar police released a 10-page list detailing the number of deaths due to spurious liquor since the 2016 alcohol ban. While police claimed that a total of 199 deaths had occurred in the seven-year period, the actual numbers are estimated to be much higher. Further, the police had also admitted to zero convictions in any of these cases. To state the obvious, while courts were bogged down hearing bail pleas for consuming liquor, not a single conviction of those responsible for even the official number of 199 deaths had been managed.

What Gujarat’s liquor death data tells us

Meanwhile, Gujarat has had an alcohol ban in place since its bifurcation from the Bombay state in 1960, except in Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) city, where the ban was lifted in 2023 in order to attract global investments. But like Bihar, the state has seen multiple mass deaths from alcohol poisoning. Again, data tells a different story from any claims that prohibition works to curb alcohol-related deaths. Mere months after the 42 deaths in 2022, it came to light that Gujarat had, in the previous year, topped the country in the number of cases registered under prohibition and narcotics laws. 

According to the 2021 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 2,83,678 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Gujarat out of the all India total of 10,93,028. Following closely on Gujarat’s heels was Tamil Nadu with 2,08,466 cases. The minimal distinction between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in the number of registered cases doesn’t make for a convincing argument for prohibition. 

The 2022 deaths were not the first in the state either. In 2009, Ahmedabad witnessed one of the starkest mass liquor deaths in recent times. The official death toll stood at a shocking 150. Demands to repeal prohibition were made by many and ignored by the then Narendra Modi-led state government. Initially, there were large-scale police crackdowns in Ahmedabad with over 8,ooo raids. More than 6,700 people were booked for violating the state’s prohibition laws. 

After the 2009 tragedy, the Gujarat government set up the Laththa Commission headed by retired Justice KM Mehta to investigate the deaths. The term ‘laththa’ refers to illicit liquor. The Commission’s report was scathing. It found an “unholy nexus between police personnel and bootleggers.” The report said, “It is quite obvious that the police personnel in all probability would have facilitated bootleggers to carry out their antisocial activities in return for hefty hafta (handsome bribe)” and added that what “intrigued” the Commission more was “the sluggish actions on the part of the police personnel, than the intensive activity of bootleggers.”

It was only in 2019 that six persons were convicted for this tragedy. However, the Sessions court that heard the case threw out the state government’s charge of murder, convicting the accused under IPC section 304, Part II (culpable homicide) instead. The state government had previously amended its prohibition policy to allow IPC section 302 (murder) to be applied in cases of alcohol poisoning deaths. Notably, no police personnel who were accused were convicted. 

Further, Gujarat had also seen mass liquor deaths in 1989 (135 victims) and in 1977 (101 victims). All of them had died due to methanol poisoning.

In Nagaland, where an alcohol ban was enforced in 1989, the state government continues to dither over repealing its Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act. As far back as 2010, CM Neiphiu Rio had admitted that the ban had been a failure in the state. But with the NLTP Act enjoying the support of a powerful Christian lobby, a consensus is yet to be reached. Again, the ban only appears to be on paper, with alcohol illegally coming in through Dimapur where Nagaland shares a border with Assam. 

Tamil Nadu’s dance with prohibition

Tamil Nadu's history with prohibition laws dates as far back as 1937 when alcohol was banned in Salem in the erstwhile Madras Presidency. However, permits could be obtained in order to consume alcohol — a move introduced by then Chief Minister C Rajagopalachari. Post-Independence, the Congress banned alcohol throughout the state after it came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1952.

The ban would stay in place until 1971, when the M Karunanidhi-led government briefly lifted it citing losses to state revenue and the fact that people simply procured alcohol from neighbouring states anyway. As realistic as this view was, the DMK quickly backtracked and brought back the ban in 1974.

In 1981 when the AIADMK came to power, MGR lifted the ban and in 1987 prohibited the sale of arrack and toddy. In 1983, his government also founded TASMAC, which was tasked with the manufacture and procurement of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).

The early 90s saw another back and forth. In 1990, DMK lifted the ban on arrack and toddy, which many believed was because TASMAC wasn’t making enough money. Jayalalithaa reversed the move in a year’s time, also doing away with the Karunanidhi era ‘maluvu vilai madhu’ or low-cost liquor that she would dismiss as “packet sarayam”. Unsurprisingly, the number of methanol poisoning deaths shot up in the state. In 2001 alone, after a decade of unchecked spurious liquor sales, at least 100 people lost their lives in three separate incidents.

By 2003, during Jayalalithaa’s tenure as CM, TASMAC took over retail sales of alcohol as well, making it the state-run monopoly it remains to this day. From 2015, after the death of Congress worker and Gandhian pro-prohibition activist Sasi Perumal, calls for an alcohol ban became a deeply entrenched vote-bank issue rather than an administrative and socio-economic one. 

SK Perumal, who later adopted the moniker ‘Sasi’ Perumal by which he would be known, had campaigned for prohibition since 1971 when the alcohol ban was lifted for the first time in the state. He died in Kanyakumari in 2015, atop a 150-feet high mobile tower, while demanding the closure of a local TASMAC store in the vicinity of a school. Perumal had over decades become a known face for prohibitionists. At the time of his death, the AIADMK was in power. His death sparked outrage across the state and demands for an alcohol ban suddenly became the key electoral issue for the 2016 Assembly elections. Opposition leaders including Karunanidhi, PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss, MDMK chief  Vaiko, then Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan all demanded prohibition. This would prompt then-CM Jayalalithaa in 2016 to promise to bring in prohibition in a phase-by-phase manner, if re-elected. 

Needless to say, neither the AIADMK nor the DMK have shown the inclination to truly enforce a total ban on alcohol. Meanwhile, without any effective state intervention, tragic deaths due to methanol laced liquor happen year after year with no lasting solution in sight. While the gap between the rates followed by illegal private players and TASMAC continues to claim lives – mostly of the economically and socially marginalised – the state’s revenue from liquor sales remains undented.

According to a 2020 Crisil report, Tamil Nadu accounted for 13% – the highest – of the liquor consumption in the 11 states and Union Territories it reviewed including New Delhi (4%), Karnataka (12%), Uttar Pradesh (5%), Punjab (4%) and Kerala (5%). In the financial year 2022-2023, TASMAC made Rs 44,121 crore. However, as TNM reported earlier, the state government spent a paltry 0.01% (Rs 5 crore) of this revenue on rehabilitating prohibition offenders. This despite the fact that rehabilitation of bootleggers is ratified within the Tamil Nadu Prohibition and Excise Policy itself as a practical means to curb the brewing of illicit liquor.

TASMAC’s own staff do not appear to be benefiting from the substantial funds it generates either. According to a Frontline report from 2022, TASMAC workers “remain poorly paid, the outlets shoddy” and the “quality of alcohol is [still] bad”. Even though the state government had promised to regularise employees in 2003, the report says, their posts continued to remain temporary. Workers had also alleged to Frontline at the time that the state government’s target-oriented sales strategy penalised staff members for factors outside their control, such as the economic backgrounds of the neighbourhoods the outlets were situated in.

History’s most (in)famous prohibition failure

The socio-cultural and economic twists and turns of the US’ Prohibition Era (1920 to 1933) has had a lasting impact on the country. Here’s how The Smithsonian Museum recalls the ‘Roaring Twenties’ after the Volstead Act that banned the production, distribution, and transportation of alcohol came into effect: “The intent was to solve some of the nation’s most pressing social issues, including alcoholism, childhood malnutrition, and domestic violence. Instead Prohibition uncorked an exuberant cultural freedom and a host of new social problems, with heady effects still felt today. Attempts to circumvent or profit from Prohibition gave crime new meaning, provoking a 12-year-long gang war that made Al Capone, [the notorious American gangster of the 1920s], a household name.”  

Information regarding the rise in organised crime directly due to prohibition has become ubiquitous. Whether through retrospective impact assessments and policy changes or cult classic favourites like the Al Pacino-starrer Scarface (1983), the US was forced to openly acknowledge prohibition’s failure.

“The rackets spawned by enactment of the Prohibition Amendment – illegal brewing, distilling and distribution of beer and liquor – were viewed as ‘growth industries’,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) admits in its public case records of Al Capone’s infamous trial. The FBI further observes, “Al Capone ruled an empire of crime in the Windy City: gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, bribery, narcotics trafficking, robbery, ‘protection’ rackets, and murder. And it seemed that law enforcement couldn’t touch him.” Interestingly, the FBI itself was formed from the 1933 merging of two existing US agencies – the Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prohibition.

Meanwhile, on its official blog, the US’ National Archives and Records Administration carries an article titled ‘Prohibition and the Rise of the American Gangster’. The article provides fascinating insights into the political backdrop within which the ‘noble experiment’ (as Prohibition was branded then) emerged and what legacy it left.

“As organised crime syndicates grew throughout the Prohibition era, territorial disputes often transformed America’s cities into violent battlegrounds. Homicides, burglaries, and assaults consequently increased significantly between 1920 and 1933,” the article notes. It goes on to say that law enforcement agencies were “overwhelmed” by the crime wave.

The emergence of alternative/black markets as streamlined criminal empires in the face of prohibition or partial bans, as it has in many historic cases including Kallakurichi, should not come as a surprise. But why this loop of artificial scarcity supplemented by bootlegged and spurious alcohol still remains unbroken is a question state governments in India have not provided answers to yet.

Read: Ground Report: Lethal nexus of bootlegger and corrupt cops led to Kallakurichi tragedy

Going back to the US Prohibition Era, law enforcement was not just overwhelmed. Corruption among underpaid low-ranking cops, bribery, police brutality in the name of enforcing the Volstead Act, custodial torture, coerced confessions, warrantless raids on private properties, and targeted harassment of working-class Black and migrant (particularly Irish) communities became rampant. Horrifying details of this can be read in Professor of Law at Duquesne University (Pennsylvania) Wesley M Oliver’s book The Prohibition Era and Policing: A Legacy of Misregulation. “Police misconduct came to the forefront of the American experience in the 1920s, and it took a variety of forms. Searches and seizure abuses, third-degree interrogation practices, excessive force, and even unjustified shootings were all part of the Prohibition Era,” Oliver writes. 

Historian and author of The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, Lisa McGirr, told Slate in 2015, “Policing took on a role in enforcing the law in particular against groups that were already identified with criminality: poor people, immigrants, African Americans.” Her book traces how the Prohibition Era had grassroots ties to the American right-wing, including to violent white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

What activists say

Executive Director at People’s Watch Henri Tiphagne previously told TNM that consecutive Tamil Nadu governments have failed to hold the state’s Prohibition Enforcement Wing duly responsible for repeated liquor deaths. Referring to the revelation that the police had been taking bribes for years from Kannukutty, the prime accused in the Kallakurichi liquor tragedy, the activist also said, “It is up to the government which has opened these shops to ensure the availability of good quality liquor at accessible prices for the poor. People are being forced to resort to illegal sources, while the police are making money off poor people. The state government is safeguarding the police, because that is the only way for them to safeguard themselves.” 

TNM also spoke to founder and CEO of the International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC) Prasanna Gettu to understand the overlaps between domestic violence and alcoholism. “Alcohol consumption is used as an excuse to not place responsibility on the perpetrator. Particularly, we have found that informal authorities such as families often tell survivors who want to leave abusive homes that the perpetrator is ‘violent only when they drink’. However, the targeted violence towards a partner or children shows that perpetrators are fully aware of whom they are assaulting. Also, physical violence is just one form of abuse. Perpetrators inflict psychological violence or economic exploitation as well, which they do when sober too,” she said. 

Prasanna further said that in her experience, ‘dry’ days – when alcohol sales are temporarily suspended – lead to increased violence at home. “There is significantly more stress at home. The perpetrator is often angry about the dry day and takes it out on family members. Family members are then forced to walk on eggshells to keep the perpetrator in a good mood.” She also drew attention to how the attitude of placing responsibility on alcohol rather than on the perpetrator often extends to shielding child sexual abusers. Alcohol consumption is constantly used as an excuse to claim that the perpetrator wasn’t ‘aware’ of what they did.

“This can have a lasting impact on children who grow up in such abusive homes. The child may grow up equating being powerful with drinking. They can end up believing that they can do whatever they want; that if they assault someone after drinking, they won’t be held responsible,” Prasanna added.

There is also the concern of excessive and prejudiced policing. Take the Goondas Act — a draconian state law introduced in MGR’s tenure with the claim of preventing bootlegging and drug trafficking. To date, the Act is evoked indiscriminately by the Tamil Nadu police. So much so that in 2022 the Madras High Court observed: “The Goondas Act has become the favourite hunting ground for police.”

As Kathir, founder-director of the Dalit rights organisation Evidence, pointed out, “A law that was introduced with the claim of curbing bootlegging is evoked today to jail political activists. Enforcing total prohibition is unrealistic. Instead, the attention should be on increasing awareness about the dangers of alcohol abuse and stricter regulation of sales. The state’s income through TASMAC in the last year was Rs 44,121 crore. For comparison, that’s close to 12 times the allocated budget for Adi Dravidar welfare (Rs 3,706 crore) this year. Why can’t the state government spend more of the income from TASMAC on improving de-addiction centres instead?”

Also for comparison, the Tamil Nadu Budget 2024-2025 has earmarked Rs 20 crore for setting up 25 new de-addiction centres. A 2019 news report highlighted that even in the capital city Chennai the state government has not set up dedicated de-addiction centres other than those attached to PHCs and government hospitals.

Also read: TN earns Rs 44,121 cr from TASMAC, spends only Rs 5 cr on rehab of bootleggers

As independent journalists decoded the general election results on YouTube last month, at least a dozen of them received copyright claims on older videos, rendering those videos ineligible for monetisation. 

Among those who received these claims were independent journalists Ravish Kumar, Ajit Anjum, Abhisar Sharma and Sakshi Joshi, as well as outlets such as Bolta Hindustan, the Probe, Dastak Live News, and content creators like Mr Reaction Wala.

All of these were sent to their YouTube channels by the same company, Ziiki Media Entertainment – a South African music aggregator, distributor, and production house. Headquartered in Johannesburg, it has a partnership with Warner Music in India, a branch in Noida, and Arun Nagar, Abhinandan Bhardwaj, and Nisha Nagar as directors. Ziiki’s clientele in India includes artistes such as Daler Mehndi, Jasmine Sandlas and J Star.

All the claims were on videos published a few years ago – most of them for clips sourced from the public domain, such as press conferences.

Journalists told Newslaundry that the claims were shocking as they “had not used music or any private videos” in their content.

They received emails from YouTube which said copyrighted claims had been detected and while it would not impact their visibility, they would no longer be able to monetise their channel. However, most journalists who disputed the claims were able to get the copyrights withdrawn.

‘Harassment’

Sakshi Joshi, an independent journalist who has close to two million subscribers on YouTube, said she received at least three such claims from Ziiki Media, which meant that she could not monetise those videos anymore. 

On disputing them, the copyright claim was “released”, and YouTube informed her that it was identified as “bad claim”. “The fact that so many of us were receiving so many invalid claims is harassment,” said Joshi. 

Abhisar Sharma, an independent journalist with 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, received four such claims and was able to successfully get all four reversed. 

However, not everyone was able to successfully revert the claim. Bolta Hindustan, which was suspended by the Information and Broadcasting ministry earlier this year, received close to a dozen such copyright claims from Ziiki Media. About four of their claims were resolved, while the rest are pending. 

Mr Reaction Wala, who has 1.29 million YouTube subscribers, told Newslaundry that after receiving the claims, he immediately deleted the videos, to prevent further issues.

A representative from Ziiki Media told Newslaundry that the claims had gone to thousands of channels, including mainstream media houses and political leaders.

‘Automatic content ID claims’

Representatives from Ziiki Media told Newslaundry that the company also provides CMS systems for content creators on YouTube, including news channels. And a “bug” in one of the CMS systems had generated automatic Content ID claims. These claims are different from copyright strikes, which are defined by law and generated manually.

Some copyright owners on YouTube use Content ID, a tool to scan the streaming platform and automatically generate claims against matching copyright-protected content. YouTube videos are scanned against a database of files submitted by copyright owners, and in case of a match, the said video may be blocked.

YouTube specifies in its rules that copyright owners who make “erroneous Content ID claims” can have their Content ID access disabled, and their partnership with YouTube terminated. 

“We have raised the issue with YouTube, which is helping us resolve it at the earliest,” said a senior employee of Ziiki Media. “We have been whitelisting some channels to prevent this from happening to them. Because it is such a large number, it is taking time to manually prevent this, but our team has been working day and night to resolve this.”

YouTube told Newslaundry that they are “currently investigating the matter” and working closely with their partners to resolve it. It said it works towards balancing the rights of copyright holders with the creative pursuits of the YouTube community, and it was not up to them to decide who “owns the rights” to content.

YouTube also said that they would remove access to certain copyright tools if a partner “repeatedly abuses the system”.

This article was originally published by Newslaundry and is republished with permission.

After interrogating Madesh, one of the men accused in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that has claimed 65 lives, the Crime Branch- Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Thursday, July 4, seized 2,000 litres of Methanol – a potent substance that is used in distilling illicit liquor. According to media reports, the chemical was found to be stored inside a sump in an inactive petrol pump located near Panruti in Cuddalore district that Madesh had taken on lease.

The Hindu reported that Madesh had sold methanol to the bootleggers in Kallakurichi and had stored the remaining 2,000 litres in Veeraperumanallur town’s inactive petrol pump.

More than 100 persons who consumed the country-made arrack have been admitted to government hospitals in Kallakurichi, Salem and Villupuram and at JIPMER in Puducherry.

It may be noted that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had also constituted a one-man commission headed by Justice B Gokuldas, former judge of the Madras High Court, to conduct a fair probe along with recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future within three months. The committee has been mandated to submit its report to the government within three months. 

The Assembly on Thursday witnessed angry exchanges between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition (LoP) V.D. Satheesan on the conduct of the SFI, the CPI(M)'s student wing.

Joining the issue from outside the Assembly was state CPI Secretary Binoy Viswan who breathed fire on the present conduct of the Students' Federation of India (SFI).

In the past week, there have been multiple incidents involving the SFI activists -- an attack on the student wing of the Congress -- KSU activists -- in the state capital city, and in Kozhikode, a principal and a staff member of a college faced the wrath.

These incidents were taken up in the Assembly by Congress legislator M. Vincent who was attacked by the SFI activists early this week when he had gone to a police station here to meet detained KSU activists.

Vincent slammed CM Vijayan and the CPI(M) for patronising the SFI activists even as they engaged in criminal activities.

Defending the SFI activists, CM Vijayan said that it has now become a habit for the opposition and the media to tarnish the image of the SFI by propagating falsehoods.

“Of late, the SFI is being targeted and is being attacked with vested motives and interests and this is not right,” said CM Vijayan.

But Satheesan said people like CM Vijayan, his party leaders and the government were giving all the support and motivation to the SFI by defending their criminal acts.

“With this reply of yours, it’s now clear that you people will never learn or understand the backlash that you have suffered on account of this,” said Satheesan. The opposition was pointing out that the poll debacle the Left led by the CPI(M) suffered in the Lok Sabha election.

With CM Vijayan rising from his seat followed by Satheesan and all the MLAs, the Assembly witnessed a tense situation. While pointing towards CM Vijayan Satheesan said, “You are no Maharaja, you are only the chief minister.”

To this CM Vijayan replied, “I am not a Maharaja, I am only a servant of the people”.

This was followed by sloganeering and the Speaker rushed through the listed business of the day and adjourned the House for the day.

Coming in for more attacks, SFI was slammed by Viswan, who heads the CPI in the state, the second biggest ally of the ruling Left.

“It’s high time the style and approach of the present-day SFI change. What they are doing now does not match with the style of the Left. The present-day SFI has to change and if they fail to do so, then SFI will become a liability to the Left,” said Viswan, while speaking to the media outside.

Maharashtra Excise Minister Shambhuiraj Desai on Thursday said that a special squad will be formed to look into the alleged drone spying on the pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil at Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna district.

“Adequate security has been provided to Jarange-Patil,” Desai informed the Speaker Rahul Narwekar who had instructed the government to provide security to the pro-Maratha reservation activist after the Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar had raised the issue.

“The government will ask the Jalna district police to look into the issue and submit its report,” Desai informed the Assembly.

He said that the police squad already visited the Antarwali Sarathi but it did not find any drones. The district police has submitted its findings. However, he added that another squad will again visit the site and verify the alleged drone spying on Jarange-Patil.

The minister’s statement is crucial as Jarange-Patil has announced to launch a fresh protest demanding the government's early decision on Sage Soyare is a Marathi term for relatives from the family tree. He has demanded that Sage Soyare should get the benefits as Kunbi under the OBC quota.

The triumphant Indian cricket team returned home to a rousing reception on Thursday, as hundreds of fans braved the steady drizzle and heavy security outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport to welcome their heroes.

The team, fresh from their T20 World Cup victory in Bridgetown, arrived aboard a specially-arranged charter flight, marking the end of a journey that had been delayed by Hurricane Beryl in Barbados.

Despite the early hour and inclement weather, fans holding placards and waving the national flag lined up outside the airport, eager to catch a glimpse of their favorite players. "The wait of 11 years has ended, indeed the celebration will be high. I came from Laxmi Nagar and reached airport early morning at 5am just to see a glimpse of our skipper 'India ka Raja' Rohit Sharma and the team," said a fan at airport.

The team, unable to return home immediately after their victory due to the hurricane, had been cocooned in their hotel until the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) arranged for a special charter flight. The Air India flight, aptly named AIC24WC - Air India Champions 24 World Cup, left Barbados at 4:50 am local time on Wednesday and arrived in Delhi at 6 am (IST) on Thursday after a 16-hour non-stop journey.

Heavy security was in place at the airport to manage the crowd, but this did little to dampen the spirits of the fans who cheered enthusiastically, holding up posters of star batter Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, and outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid.

Two buses were stationed outside the T3 Terminal VIP gate to ferry the players to their hotel, from where they would head to the Prime Minister’s residence for a reception.

The players trickled out in ones and twos after completing immigration formalities, tired but excited. They acknowledged the waiting fans with waves and warm smiles.Suryakumar Yadav, who took the sensational match-winning catch of David Miller in the final, was the most enthusiastic in responding to the cheering. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant saluted the crowd, while pacer Mohammed Siraj blew flying kisses.

Rohit and Kohli, both of whom retired from T20Is at the end of India’s campaign, were among the last to come out of the VIP exit. Rohit, holding the coveted trophy, raised it for the fans to catch a glimpse before boarding the bus. Kohli gave a thumbs up to acknowledge the support before boarding a bus.

The victory, which ended an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy, has been hailed as a significant achievement for the team. India’s previous ICC title was in 2013 when it won the Champions Trophy under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team’s earlier World Cup titles came in 1983 (ODI), 2007 (T20), and 2011 (ODI).

After meeting the Prime Minister, the players are scheduled to fly to Mumbai to participate in an open bus victory parade followed by a felicitation ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Rohit had posted on social media on Wednesday, urging fans to turn up in large numbers to show their support for the team.

The celebrations in Mumbai are expected to be a special moment for the 37-year-old Rohit, a Mumbaikar and a huge fan favorite in the city. The road show will echo the grand celebration held 17 years ago when Dhoni's team had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the inaugural 2007 World T20 in South Africa.

Meta (formerly Facebook) on Thursday said that India is one of the most active countries for Threads globally.

In India, some of the most popular tags and topics on Threads were centred around film, TV and OTT content, celebrity-related conversations and sports.

Threads has also achieved more than 175 million monthly active users globally, announced Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Moreover, the company mentioned that people using Threads in India were more likely to mention another user and use a video in their posts compared to the global average.

"Threads is primarily used for text-based creation, but many people are supplementing their posts with media," the tech giant said in a statement.

"Photos are also one of the most used features on the app, with one in four Threads posts including at least one. With the introduction of an in-app camera and the growing Photography Threads community, photos have become a popular way to enhance text-first posts," it added.

Looking forward to the next year of Threads, the company said that it is excited to make the app even better for following and discussing "your interests in real-time, and is investing in more features that make people feel most comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas on the app".