Vav-Tharad, Aug 13 (IANS) The Gujarat Police’s State Monitoring Cell (SMC) seized Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer worth Rs 1.20 crore during a raid near the Badhiyapura toll plaza in Vav-Tharad district on Thursday, with the total value of the seized material put at Rs 1.32 crore.
The operation was carried out following directions from the Director General of Police (DGP), G.S. Malik, to take legal action against illegal liquor and gambling activities in the state.
A team of the SMC, led by Police Inspector P.V. Jebeliya, conducted the raid on the highway from Tharad towards Badhiyapura toll plaza, near the toll plaza in Tharad taluka.
According to the SMC, the team recovered approximately 884 boxes of IMFL and beer containing 31,836 bottles. The liquor was valued at Rs 1,20,47,280.
Other material seized during the operation took the total value of the confiscated property to Rs 1,32,00,680.
A case was registered at Tharad Police Station on Thursday under Sections 65(A)(E), 81, 83, 98(2) and 116(B) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act. Four accused have been named as wanted in the case.
Police identified Harish Kankuna, a resident of Sodiyar in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, as the alleged main accused who sent the liquor consignment.
The owner and driver of the truck, along with one individual, are also wanted in connection with the alleged ordering and transportation of the consignment.
The seizure comes amid a series of large liquor recoveries by Gujarat’s enforcement agencies.
In June, the SMC seized IMFL worth more than Rs 1.49 crore near Bibipura on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway, with the overall value of the seized property reported at around Rs 1.74 crore.
In another operation reported in August, the SMC seized 12,843 bottles of IMFL and beer worth Rs 59.23 lakh near the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, with the total value of the seized property estimated at Rs 79.26 lakh.
The latest operation is part of continuing enforcement against the illegal movement of liquor into Gujarat, where prohibition laws remain in force.
–IANS
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