Their demand comes five days after the reported death of one person and loss of eyesight by almost half a dozen others following consumption of Khukuri Rum and Virgin brand liquors.
“Responsible companies are never involved in such criminal acts. The government should immediately come out with an investigation report and bring out the facts concerning the thriving malpractice of adulterating liquors available in the market,” Sabin Lal Shrestha, president of Beverage and Cigarette Industries Association, said at a press conference in the capital on Thursday.
Shrestha, who is proprietor of Highland Distillery that produces the Virgin brand, claimed that a number of unscrupulous brewers are actively involved in counterfeit production through use of the brands and bottles of reputed companies as well as fake revenue stickers.
“The government cannot bring such malpractice under control unless security stickers are provided to genuine producers,” added Shrestha. He said the existing stickers are not secure and can be easily copied.
Amit Goswami, chief executive officer of Nepal Distillery, producer of Khukuri Rum, urged the government to lift the ban on distribution of their brands, imposed following the fatal incident.
Bijaya Shah of Himalayan Distillery flayed the government for ignoring repeated requests in the past by producers to strictly enforce use of security stickers that have proven fail-safe in order to discourage liquor adulteration. A few months back also, more than two dozen individuals lost their lives after consuming counterfeit liquor.
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