Illicit liquor valued at Rs 6.89 lakh seized; one arrested in Gujarat’s Vadodara

Vadodara, Feb 19 (IANS) Illicit liquor valued at Rs 6.89 lakh was seized in the Bapod police station area in Gujarat’s Vadodara, officials said on Wednesday.

During the operation, one accused was arrested, while two others, including a suspect from Rajasthan and an unknown container driver, were declared wanted, the officials added.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided a warehouse opposite Marutidham Society and found an illegal liquor stockpile.

The premises were linked to Suvalal Panchal, a repeat offender previously arrested for similar prohibition violations.

Panchal, a resident of Jivan Nagar, Waghodia Road, Vadodara, was arrested.

The raid led to the seizure of foreign liquor, mobile phones, and cash, amounting to a total seizure of approximately Rs 7 lakh.

While Panchal was arrested, searches were underway to arrest the other two accused.

Despite Gujarat’s prohibition of alcohol since 1948, the state continues to grapple with significant challenges related to illegal liquor activities.

In the first half of 2024, the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) conducted 224 raids across various districts and cities, achieving 180 successful operations.

These efforts led to the seizure of approximately Rs 11.5 crore worth of liquor and an additional Rs 26 crore in illegal goods.

Notably, Ahmedabad reported the highest number of prohibition cases among the state’s four police commissionerates, with 17 cases, followed by Surat with 13, Vadodara with five, and none in Rajkot.

This trend mirrors data from 2023, where Ahmedabad accounted for 37 out of 83 liquor-related cases registered by the SMC. Comparatively, in 2021, the SMC conducted 148 successful raids throughout the year, seizing Rs 13.64 crore worth of liquor and Rs 6.90 crore in illegal goods. The increase in enforcement activities over the years underscores the ongoing efforts to combat illicit liquor operations in the state.

–IANS

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