Ahmedabad:
The Ahmedabad police have busted a major bootlegging racket that used delivery portals and second-hand clothing consignments as a cover to smuggle illicit alcohol into the city. Following a targeted raid at an apartment in the Gujarat Housing Board complex, the police found a stockpile of contraband stored for urban distribution.
The scheme relied on logistics services to transport sealed shipments under the guise of pre-owned garments sourced from Sanchore in Rajasthan. The primary suspect organised the deliveries through digital logistics platforms, hiding sealed liquor bottles beneath layers of discarded clothing inside ordinary cardboard boxes to evade border checks and regional transport inspections, the police said.
Upon reaching the destination, the apartment served as a central staging ground where the contraband was unpacked, sorted, and prepared for local buyers.
The police caught three key accused -- Nishit Shah, Jay Pawar, and Kishan Shah. They also discovered thousands of bottles stored across the flat and its outer hallway, ready for dispatch.
In total, police confiscated 2,736 bottles of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor valued at over Rs 6.3 lakh, alongside four mobile devices, packaging tools, and three two-wheelers. The total value of the seized assets exceeded 7.7 lakh rupees.
Officials confirmed that electric and conventional scooters were actively deployed to execute discrete, door-to-door deliveries across nearby neighborhoods.
Interrogations revealed that the illicit consignment was ordered directly from a Rajasthan-based supplier named Omprakash Bishnoi and was intended for local distribution to designated buyers, including an individual named Harish Makwana.
Investigations are in progress to determine the extent of the digital transport routes and trace all intermediary accounts involved in the supply network.
Legal proceedings have been initiated under relevant sections of the Prohibition Act, with senior officers assigning further investigative duties to track down the fleeing out-of-state suppliers.
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