SURAT, June 24: The Prohibition police, in two separate raids conducted at different places of the region on Wednesday, arrested 17 people and seized foreign liquor worth 1.15 lakhs apart from confiscating two vehicles, which were being used to transport the liquor. Cases have been registered against those held in the the Navsari and Vapi prohibition police stations.Acting according to a tip off, sources here at the Surat division headquarters said, the police intercepted a Maruti Van (GJ 5 FF 5697) on the Navsari Surat state highway today afternoon and on checking the vehicle found 1498 bottles of foreign liquor valued at Rs 62,000. The police said that the driver of the vehicle Kaushik Kanubhai Patel had confessed to his crime. The Navsari prohibition police also took the vehicle worth Rs 1.5 lakhs into possession.In another case of liquor seizure late in the evening today, the Vapi prohibition police intercepted a tempo bringing vegetables to the city. Although details about the raid were not available, the police said that 779 bottles of foreign liquor, valued at Rs 54,000 was found hidden under a pile of vegetables in the vehicle. In all 16 people travelling in the tempo, including seven women were arrested by the police in the raid. The driver of the tempo Pratap Singh has also been arrested and the vehicle worth Rs 3.5 lakhs has been confiscated, the prohibition police said.
