Water tanker ferrying liquor seized in Rajkot

The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Rajkot arrested three bootleggers and seized Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 25 lakhs approximately being transported in water tanker and a tractor trailer from the outskirts of the city on Friday.

A team of DCB conducted a raid on the farm of one Mayursinh Zala in Ratanpar village on the outskirts of the city and seized IMFL worth Rs 14.18 lakhs. The police tracked down the bootleggers while they were unloading the liquor consignment from a tractor trailer and storing it in a cellar, Zala had built underneath the floor of a cottage on his farm. While Zala and others managed to run away, police seized the liquor consignment and the tractor trailer.

In another raid, the DCB intercepted a water tanker near Kuvadva and upon checking it, the vehicle was found loaded with IMFL worth Rs 10.57 lakh. Police said the tanker was on it’s way to Rajkot from Ahmedabad. Police arrested tanker driver Mahadev Shidam alias Sanjay Fauji, a resident of Ahmedabad and seized the liquor consignment as well as the vehicle. The police also arrested two other men—Shidam’s son Suresh (22) and his friend Ankit Pal (21)—who were piloting the tanker laden with liquor.

Shidam told police that Ahmedabad-based bootlegger Viru was to instruct him about his destination of delivery after he reached Rajkot with the liquor consignment.