NDRF salvages 150 wine bottles stolen from Gujarat police station, dumped in canal
The NDRF team of divers which was deployed by the Gujarat police on Saturday has so far managed to recover 150 of the 1,200 bottles stolen.
An expert team of divers from the National Disaster Response Response Force (NDRF) continued to search a water body in Gujarat’s Mehsana district on Sunday to recover alcohol bottles stolen from a police station and dumped there, police officials said
The NDRF team of divers which was deployed by the Gujarat police on Saturday has so far managed to recover 150 of the 1,200 bottles stolen.
Gujarat is a dry state, where liquor sale is prohibited. NDRF is a premier national force that specializes in rescue operations during disasters.
Mehsana superintendent of police, Manish Singh said they had received a tip-off on Thursday that some liquor bottles have been stolen from the Kadi police station and have been dumped in Narmada Canal passing through Narsinghpura area which is close to the police station.
“As the matter was sensitive, I had informed my inspector general of police (IGP), Gandhinagar. After which a special investigation team (SIT) was formed to find out where the bottles were stolen from, who dumped them in the water body and who were involved,” Singh said, adding that the investigations were on.
Another police official said on the condition of anonymity that there were complaints that illegal liquor business was thriving in Mehsana town because of the connivance of the staff of Kadi police station with local bootleggers. The local police had seized liquor worth Rs one crore in the district in the past two years but they were not destroyed.
“As per government orders, the liquor confiscated has to be thrown away within a year in presence of senior district officials. But that was not done in Mehsana,” the officer said.
“Foreign liquor cartons seized in past were kept in the store room of the police station. During lockdown, when inter-state borders were sealed, these liquor bottles were sold with the help of local bootleggers. Complaints were received at the office of the director general of police and inspector general of police a few days back that around 1,200 bottles of foreign made liquor were missing,” the official said. A complaint was lodged at Kadi police station that liquor has been stolen, he added.
As the police started investigation, two police officers went missing and police received information that a large number of liquor bottles have been dumped in Narmada drain, Singh said. He added that NDRF’s help was sought to recover the bottles after the fire brigade team failed to find them on Friday.
“The NDRF has deep divers and they have so far recovered over 150 bottles,” he said.
In Gujarat, where only tourists can buy liquor after filling a form, smuggling and sale of liquor can land a person in jail for 10 years with a fine of Rs five lakh. The punishment was enhanced in 2017 after the government found that there was smuggling of liquor in Gujarat was rampant.
