Police bust bootlegger’s underground godown operated by hydraulic pump

On reaching the spot, the PCB sleuths could not find any alcohol in the house. Inspector S D Ratada told The Indian Express, “Since, our informer was insistent that there was alcohol in the house, we continued to search for hidden closets… While at it, we located the underground godown… we found a false switch board in the living room, which had suspicious looking pipes and wires inside as well as a hydraulic pump lying at the side.”

After hours of questioning Gohil about the “suspicious pump” and the false switchboard, he confessed that he had built a godown underground. “He moved the bed in the bedroom and connected the hydraulic pump to raise two fake floor tiles to reveal the entrance to the underground godown… The godown was the size of the room and packed with cartons of alcohol bottles and beer tins…,” Ratada said.

He added that it will now be a matter of investigation to ascertain who helped Gohil created such a system. The police have seized 14,172 IMFL bottles and beer tins worth Rs 14.92 lakh as well as the hydraulic oil pump worth Rs 3,000.

The PCB has registered an FIR at the Jawaharnagar police station naming two others – Mukesh Naik of Dahod and Ramesh from Devgarh Bariya – who allegedly supplied alcohol to Gohil. Naik and Ramesh are yet to be arrested.

The investigation of the case has been handed over to the Gorwa police station in Vadodara.

According to the PCB, Gohil has nine cases lodged against him at Jawaharnagar police station between 2014 and 2020, including three under Prohibition Act and four under Indian Penal Code sections of assault, criminal intimidation and violation of prohibitory orders. Further, he has a case of gambling against him and was booked under Gujarat Prevention of Anti-social Activities Act in 2014.