Bootleggers match wits with police

SURAT, Nov 19: What could an inflatable rubber tube, a milk can, a winter jacket and a luxury bus trip have to do with the enforcement of th...

SURAT, Nov 19: What could an inflatable rubber tube, a milk can, a winter jacket and a luxury bus trip have to do with the enforcement of the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949? Nothing, right? That8217;s what the members of the exclusive 18-month-old squad set up to implement the dry law in the State would probably think too. And that is how bootleggers and liquor-carriers are winning the day in South Gujarat.

Not only have they stopped making country liquor in the traditional haathbhattis, they8217;re also adopting more and more innovative ways to keep the liquor flowing into the city from Daman, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Recent raids by the prohibition police have unearthed a number of ingenious improvisations which minimise the bootleggers8217; chances of being caught. Says superintendent of the striking force of the prohibition police M G Kaneriya, 8220;Some methods of transporting liquor has bemused us totally, while some methods are downright funny8221;.

For instance, a fortnight ago, the police stumbled upon the dead body of a youth from the Kolak village. There were 49 whiskey bottles tucked away in various pockets of the winter jacket the deceased wore. 8220;Such jackets are specifically made to transport upto 50 quarter bottles of IMFL8221;, says Kaneriya.

There have been innumerable seizures of liquor being transported in milk cans. While some simply fill milk cans with country liquor, others with more finesse dunk potlis transparent plastic bags of country liquor into the milk. The bags settle onto the bottom, to be removed at the destination, if the police doesn8217;t wise up to it.

Yet another enterprising bootlegger came up with the idea of organising free8217; weekend tours to Daman and Unai if the passengers obliged him by packing their luggage with IMFL, says Kaneriya. 8220;Had we not been tipped off by his rival, we8217;d never have suspected Pravin Rana of being a bootlegger8221;, he says, adding that the police arrested 34 passengers8217;, including 16 women, even as they were returning from a trip on Monday. Rana, however, gave the police the slip and has been declared an absconder.

Then, of course, there are the traditional ways of tucking away country liquor or IMFL at the bottom of trucks filled with sand or kapchi gravel. Even the most hardcore of police officers would think twice before ordering such a truck emptied.

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Kaneriya says the prohibition police have also discovered secret shelves 8220;in the bonnet, on the wrong side of the body and even the cabin of vehicles8221;. Admits he, 8220;It is not possible to open up each and every container truck thousands pass through the highway daily though most are from other States and have a realistic chance of containing liquor8221;.

Among those carriers who leave the police bemused are women who smuggle the liquor inside their clothes. 8220;We can make out that they8217;re carrying liquor, but taking action is difficult8221;, says Kaneriya. 8220;We8217;ve even come across a woman who tied up an inflatable tube around her body and placed the potlis in it8221;.