Rajkot, June 8 (IANS) The Gujarat State Monitoring Cell (SMC) has seized Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth more than Rs 1.51 crore and arrested a truck driver after intercepting a consignment on National Highway 27 near Bharudi Toll Plaza in Rajkot district, officials said on Monday.

The raid was carried out near Bharudi village in Gondal taluka by an SMC team led by Police Sub-Inspector V.N. Jadeja and Inspector R.K. Karamata.

A case has been registered at Gondal Taluka Police Station under various provisions of the Gujarat Prohibition Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to officials, the seized consignment comprised 1,154 boxes containing 41,580 bottles of IMFL valued at Rs 1,51,29,600.

The liquor was allegedly manufactured by distilleries located in Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Police also seized a truck valued at Rs 30 lakh, a mobile phone worth Rs 5,000, cash of Rs 3,600 and other materials worth Rs 20,800. The total value of the seized property has been estimated at Rs 1,81,59,000.

The arrested accused was identified as Bhuraram Saran, a resident of Hodu village in Rajasthan’s Balotra district. Investigators said he was driving a truck, which was allegedly used to transport the liquor into Gujarat.

Police have named four other accused as wanted in the case.

They include alleged liquor supplier Khemaram Beniwal of Balotra district, truck owner Ramnivas alias Ramlal Multanaram of Rajasthan’s Peelwa area, Sunil Multanaram, also from Peelwa, and an unidentified individual who allegedly used a virtual mobile number with a United Kingdom country code to place the liquor order.

The seizure is among the largest liquor hauls reported in Gujarat in recent weeks and comes amid intensified enforcement against inter-state liquor smuggling into the prohibition state.

In another recent case, Ahmedabad Customs officials intercepted a boat off the Kolak coast in Valsad district and seized 555 boxes containing 18,672 bottles of IMFL valued at around Rs 50 lakh.

Eight people were detained, and the consignment was handed over to local police for action under prohibition laws.

Authorities said the liquor was suspected to have been smuggled from Daman into Gujarat.

Separately, Sola police in Ahmedabad seized liquor worth Rs 54.1 lakh hidden beneath sacks of paddy husk in a truck intercepted near Vaishnodevi Bridge on SG Highway in May.

The total value of the seizure, including the vehicle, was estimated at Rs 64.3 lakh, and the truck driver from Rajasthan was arrested.

–IANS

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