Mumbai, April 15: There is a lot of speculations among the citizens that liquor and wine shops in Maharashtra will be open during the extended lockdown period. Dismissing speculations, Maharashtra Minister of Excise and Labour Dilip Walse-Patil said that there are no plans of reopening liquors shops as of now. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader also clarified that there is no proposal of home delivery of liquor, Times of India reported. Maharashtra Cyber Cell Warns People of Fake Social Media Ads on Liquor Sale Amid Lockdown, Tells Citizens Not to Believe in Rumours.

"When the Union government issued guidelines on the lockdown in the country, liquor was not included in the list of items to be exempted. Hence, as of now, we have no plans to restart liquor shops or start home delivery of alcohol,” Walse-Patil told TOI. Online-Home Delivery of Liquor Not Allowed Amid COVID-19 Lockdown, Says Maharashtra Govt.

Several fake messages regarding the sale of alcohol are being spread on social media. The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has warned that strict action will be taken if someone is found spreading rumours.

"We've received several complaints of FAKE ADS selling alcohol on social media. All such miscreants will be caught & strict legal action would be taken. We urge all citizens to not believe in anything like this across social media and be careful," Maharashtra Cyber cell tweeted.

The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra rose to 3,124 on Wednesday evening, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported. The contagious infection has so far killed 178 people in the state, while 259 people have recovered.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2020 07:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).