Police begin crackdown: 2,203 prohibition cases lodged in 2 days
In Valsad district, a police sub-inspector and three police constables of Valsad police, and 15 others were caught in a liquor party in Atul village and 18 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs. 26.14 lakh were seized.
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While policemen from Vadodara city conducted “raids” on bootleggers, with news cameras in tow — even bursting wooden barrels filled with country liquor during the raids, an alleged 42-year-old bootlegger in Anand district’s Dharmaj town died after suffering a panic attack when police came knocking at his door Tuesday, leading to a brief altercation between locals and policemen.
Following the death of 42 people in a hooch tragedy in Botad district, Gujarat police have begun a crackdown on bootleggers in various districts of the state, lodging 2203 cases since Tuesday. Videos of police conducting raids on alleged dens of bootleggers surfaced on social media, also triggering criticism from the opposition about the “sudden action after a tragedy”.
While policemen from Vadodara city conducted “raids” on bootleggers, with news cameras in tow — even bursting wooden barrels filled with country liquor during the raids, an alleged 42-year-old bootlegger in Anand district’s Dharmaj town died after suffering a panic attack when police came knocking at his door Tuesday, leading to a brief altercation between locals and policemen.
In Valsad district, a police sub-inspector and three police constables of Valsad police, and 15 others were caught in a liquor party in Atul village and 18 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs. 26.14 lakh were seized.
Valsad District Superintendent of Police Rajeedsinh Jhala said, “We will take departmental and legal actions against the police personnel who had left their headquarter and attended the liquor party.”
According to senior police officials of Central Gujarat, which is known to have several brewing units of local countrymade liquor — popularly called the “polti” — the raids have come as a “natural reaction” to the tragedy.
A senior official said, “The crackdown on bootleggers is not an afterthought. It is an ongoing process where cases are booked every day. Illegal manufacture and trade of alcohol is a reality. But when the alcohol is laced with a poisonous chemical that can take lives, it is an even bigger crime than just violation of the prohibition law…”
Another senior official added that many local crime branch units of respective commissionerates and district police have “voluntarily” conducted raids based on tip-offs received by the officials.
“There has been no brief given out to officials after the Botad incident. Crackdown on bootleggers is a usual drive. But it is true that many police officials have acted on their own against bootleggers in their area… In fact, the raids have been highlighted more because of the tragedy,” the officer said.
In the last two days, Vadodara city police booked 167 cases under the Prohibition Act, out of which 146 cases were booked Tuesday.
The city police arrested 83 accused, including 56 for consumption of alcohol on Tuesday, and seized 627 litres of countrymade liquor worth Rs 12,740.
The Vadodara city police have also confiscated IMFL worth Rs 13,640.
In Anand district, 108 cases under the Prohibition have been booked in the last two days while in Ahmedabad city, a total of 106 prohibition-related FIRs were lodged on Tuesday and Wednesday and 102 persons were arrested.
The Ahmedabad police also seized 1,003 litres of countrymade liquor, one bottle IMFL, 12 beer cans, and 29 quarter IMFL bottles in these cases, according to a report from the Ahmedabad City Police Control Room.
The police also confiscated 1,316 bottles of IMFL in Vav taluka of Banaskantha Tuesday night worth Rs 1.2 lakh.
According to police, a raid was conducted at the residence of Hiraji Rajput, a resident of Khimanapadar village in Vav taluka of Banaskantha, where police found liquor bottles stored in his bathroom. Rajput was then arrested.
In Surat city, from May to July 2022, the police seized 69023 IMFL bottles worth Rs. 86.71 lakh, and arrested 473 people under the Prohibition Act in 385 cases.
Apart from this, 2,908 cases of spurious liquor have been registered with Surat district police from May to July 2022. Spurious liquor worth of Rs. 5.54 lakh was seized and 3,013 people have been arrested in this connection.
Narsimha Komar, Additional director general of police, Law and Order, Gujarat, said that the 1,343 people were detained in Prohibition cases since Tuesday.
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Komar said, “A special drive with the intention of a total crackdown against bootleggers is going on currently in Gujarat. Under the drive, we have lodged 2,203 cases under the prohibition act for countrymade liquor and detained 1,343 persons across the state since Tuesday. Similarly, 101 cases of only IMFL seizure were also lodged in the drive.”
The Congress party, however, questioned the police action, right after the tragedy.
Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee Spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “The Gujarat police drive against bootleggers since the last two days is a clear example of the fact that the police is well aware of where bootleggers thrive and operate from. This action is a show after an incident… If the police desire, it can ensure that not a drop of alcohol is manufactured or sold illegally. But for that, it has to do its job wholeheartedly for the 365 days and not for two days, after which bootleggers will return to their den and it will be business as usual… “
“The state government, instead of hiding behind the garb that the tragedy occurred due to chemical poisoning must own up that it was indeed spurious liquor and work on averting such tragedies by enforcing the law in place,” he added.
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