Ahmedabad, March 17 (IANS) The Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) has seized a large consignment of foreign liquor worth more than Rs 1.08 crore in a targeted enforcement action and arrested the driver involved in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, officials said on Tuesday.

The operation took place near the Sutar Factory Bridge area in the Naroda area of the city late on Monday night.

According to police, the PCB team had set up surveillance based on intelligence that a container was travelling from Haryana via Rajasthan towards Ahmedabad and was expected to pass through the Naroda Ring Road stretch close to the bridge.

When the container arrived, officers stopped it for inspection. The driver, identified as Mangiram Jat, a resident of Sadpura village in Rajasthan, was asked to produce documentation for the container’s cargo.

He presented a document claiming the load consisted of bicycles.

Officers, however, acting on suspicion that the document was false, opened the container and found it packed with cartons of foreign liquor.

The container was transported to Naroda Police Station, and a case was registered against the driver for offences under the Gujarat Prohibition Act.

Police said approximately 23,232 bottles packed in 892 boxes were recovered from the container, amounting to an estimated value of Rs 1,08,11,184.

Officers also seized the driver’s mobile phone worth Rs 10,000, cash of Rs 1,450, and the container itself, valued at around Rs 20 lakh, bringing the total value of seized items to Rs 1,28,22,634.

An official said the operation formed part of ongoing efforts by the city police to curb the illegal liquor trade in the state.

Investigations by the PCB are continuing to determine whether others are involved in the smuggling racket.

Gujarat has maintained prohibition under its laws since the formation of the state, but authorities have reported regular seizures of large quantities of liquor over recent years.

In the past two years alone, government data presented in the State Legislative Assembly showed that liquor worth more than Rs 38.89 crore was seized at checkposts along the state’s borders with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, involving more than 10 lakh bottles of foreign liquor and over 1.59 lakh bottles of beer.

Over 1,000 persons were arrested in connection with these seizures.

Earlier operations in Ahmedabad and surrounding areas have also resulted in significant recoveries.

A recent police operation in the Narol area uncovered more than 10,749 bottles of foreign liquor hidden beneath a load of helmets in a truck, with an estimated value exceeding Rs 63 lakh.

In a separate enforcement drive ahead of Diwali, the city police seized liquor reportedly worth Rs 2.06 crore from two parts of the city as part of efforts to enforce the state’s prohibition laws.

–IANS

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