Bootleggers in Ahmedabad abandon cars, ride scooters to sell booze

Trust the Amdavadi to find a way out when the chips are down. Though the new ordinance on prohibition has tightened the screws on the free flow of liquor into our ‘dry’ state, those well-versed with the ways of how the cops function have found innovative means to smuggle Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) into the state. With the cops plugging the supply lines from other states, the huge consignments that once arrived in trucks and cars have given way to smaller consignments on two-wheelers, with the Activa being the preferred mode of transport for the smugglers.
Since December, cops have seized over 40 Activas found smuggling alcohol.The amended, stricter prohibition law that has been in force in the state since December 16, 2016, has hit the smooth supply of booze from Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, MP as well as Daman and Diu. With the supply chain targetting the small fish directly rather than the big bootleggers, the city police have had to change their patrolling methods, according to sources having knowledge of how the system works. Earlier, a truck full of IMFL would arrive at the entry points of the state where the booty would be divided into smaller consignments and smuggled into the city through cars.
“Nadiad, Kheda, Dehgam, Bopal were the entry points that were used to smuggle the IMFL into the city,” a police source said. With stricter policing at the entry points, the liquor mafia have had to find new ways. According to police chief Anup Kumar Singh there has been a change in the modus operandi of bootleggers. The police have found that the large consignments are divided into smaller loads and smuggled into the city through twowheelers.
The booze bottles are placed in the compartment below the seat and in bags that are placed near the foot in the front of the Activa and one placed between the pillion and the driver. “There have been instances of twowheelers coming from Rajasthan and using the shortcuts to reach Ahmedabad border with the smaller loads of illegal liquor,” Singh said. Since December the city police have seized at least 42 two-wheelers, almost all of them Activa scooters, which were used to smuggle IMFL, a source said. The carriers have been found to carry around 60 bottles in one Activa.
In the latest seizure on February 15, Naroda police seized four Activas and eight people for smuggling the IMFL from Rajasthan. Naroda Police Inspector R B Rana said, “This is a new method they have adopted. They were found to carry IMFL in the dickey, also in one bag that was kept in the front and another that was kept between the pillion and the driver.” After a strict rule in place, the big fish in the bootlegging business have been replaced by smaller fish who have focused on the smaller consignments to smuggle IMFL into the city.
“All of them have been first timers in the bootlegging business,” Rana said. Cost of illegal liquor spirals With greater risk in the smuggling of alcohol, fewer bottles are coming into the state. This has resulted in overall cost of booze shooting up. Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela recently claimed in the Assembly that the smuggling of booze has not stopped but its price has increased. A bootlegger based in Gomtipur, on condition of anonymity, told Mirror that big bootleggers have had to shut shop after stricter implementation since December.
“The price of liquor has shot up like never before in the city,” he said. Revealing the current prices of IMFL in the city, he said that a Royal Stag bottle which was easily available for Rs 500 is now sold at Rs 700. Blender’s Pride whiskey which was earlier sold for Rs 800 is now hard to find even for Rs 1,500. Smirnoff Vodka too has vanished from the market with customers ready to shell out even Rs 2,000 but it is not available.
The cost of it ranged from Rs 1,000 to 1,200. Another bootlegger said, “Beer bottles too seem to have gone missing from the illegal market, though a beer tin is available for a steep Rs 250 or even Rs 300. Earlier it was sold in the range of Rs 170 to 180.” On the other hand, the city police have ensured “corking the entry points” to nab such smugglers. “We have activated our information networks in areas like Banaskantha, Dahod, Chhota Udepur, Maharasthra and Diu to get information on such smaller fish,” Singh said. Feb records highest number of cases If you take figures of the last six months, February accounted for the highest number of prohibition cases being registered — 1,003 cases.
The number of cases registered in the first nine days of March were 718, whereas the cases registered in the past two months before the new ordinance – October and November – were 744 and 794 respectively, figures from the police commissioner’s office stated. The Dahod police saw a sharp increase in the smuggling of IMFL in plastic bottles and hidden in other material. The cops recently arrested two women with 1,500 quarter bottles of IMFL hidden in a bag full of corn beans. Dahod District Superintendent of Police Manoj Ninama told Mirror that innovative means have been used to smuggle liquor. “We have also seized a large number of motorbikes, used to smuggle the IMFL from the small lanes from across the borders,” he said.