Vijayawada: Seven, including politician’s kin booked; bar seized

Vijayawada: Police raided the Swarna Bar at Hotel M in Krishna Lanka following the deaths of those who had drunk liquor served there on Monday. The police arrested seven people, including the owners, manager and workers of the bar and hotel. Bar manager P. Venkatesh, cashier N. Nageswara Rao, assistant cashier R. Malakonda Reddy, worker B. Srinivas Rao and others were taken into custody.

The owners and license holders, including relatives of Congress leader Malladi Vishnu, Lakshmi Saraswathi, Kavuri Purnachandra Sharma, Malladi Bala Tripura Sundari and Vishnu’s mother have also been arrested.

They have been booked under Sections 304 and 328 of IPC and other sections of the Excise Act. The police also reached Mr Vishnu’s home but he was unavailable on Monday night.

They sent samples of the liquor served at the bar to Excise Department officials and the Forensic Department for tests, East MLA Gadde Rammohan Rao alleged that Mr Vishnu owned the hotel and bar, but Mr Vishnu clarified that his relatives owned it.

“I talked to the manager who raised doubts about contamination of water in the water cooler, which is outside the bar,” Mr Vishnu said. Officials found that the Original Choice brand of liquor was mostly consumed by the victims. Police are also looking for CCTV footage to find out if the liquor was adulterated by the bar managers.

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