No help without payment, Kerala bar owners warned in audio Clip

Thiruvananthapuram: An audio recording surfaced on Friday, revealing a request for all bar owners in Kerala to contribute Rs 2.50 lakh each for "favourable" liquor policies.

In the audio, Animon, the president of the Idukki Federation of Kerala Hotel Association and vice president of the apex body of bar hotel owners, solicited funds from bar owners in his district in exchange for favourable liquor policies for 2024-25.

The alleged voice message states:

“Decisions were made clear in the recent general body meeting itself… If these are to be accomplished, we must be willing to provide what is necessary… Currently, only one-third of the required funds have been received from all over the State.

Nobody will help us without providing this. Nobody has any connections or dealings with anybody… Failure to cooperate could lead us into significant trouble…”

Meanwhile, a section of bar owners present at the meeting confirmed that the voice recording indeed belonged to Animon and affirmed that the decision discussed was indeed made during the meeting.