Ahmedabad, April 2 (IANS) Foreign liquor worth around Rs 81.92 lakh was seized during a raid by the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) near Chharodi village on the Sanand-Viramgam highway in Ahmedabad Rural, officials said on Thursday, as part of an operation targeting an alleged illegal supply network.
According to investigators, a total of 11,332 bottles of foreign liquor of various brands were recovered from an open plot belonging to Mansi Industries.
The liquor was found to have been manufactured in distilleries located in Rajasthan and Punjab and was allegedly brought into Gujarat for unlawful sale in violation of the state’s prohibition laws.
Police said the action was carried out following specific intelligence inputs that a consignment was being unloaded at the site.
The raid led to the exposure of an organised operation involving the transportation and storage of liquor for distribution.
In addition to the liquor, officers seized three vehicles, including a dumper and cars, valued at around Rs 33 lakh, along with a mobile phone worth Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,410 in cash.
The total value of the seized property stands at Rs 1,15,00,192.
One accused, identified as Jummakhan Pathan, a resident of Chharodi, was arrested at the scene and later handed over to the Sanand GIDC police station.
Officials said the alleged kingpin of the network, Imran alias Obama Malek of Pipli in Dasada, Surendranagar district, remains absconding.
Other accused named in the case include Bilkishbanu Malek, Sohil Vaghela, and Abbas Vaghela, along with several others believed to be involved in transporting the consignment.
Police said five to six unidentified persons, including vehicle owners and drivers, are also being traced.
Officials added that the case has been registered under various sections of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, and further investigation is underway to identify the wider network and supply chain.
In recent months, the SMC has carried out multiple similar operations across Gujarat. Last month, a raid in Chavalaj village in Ahmedabad rural led to the seizure of over 25,000 bottles of liquor along with vehicles and other items worth more than Rs 1.35 crore.
Earlier, in another operation in Surat’s Puna area, the SMC recovered around 5,200 bottles of foreign liquor valued at about Rs 19 lakh from a residential property linked to a bootlegging network.
–IANS
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