State Excise Personnel of Nashik checking a suspicious vehicle on Mumbai Agra Highway NASHIK: For bootleggers who would not mind making an arduous journey for a quick buck in ‘dry’ Gujarat, the hilly and dense forest terrain in northern Maharashtra offers the perfect cover from the watchful eyes of law-enforcement agencies.
The transport of illegal liquor happens over a 400km to 500km route that traverses the coastal line from the Union Territory of Daman to Palghar in Maharashtra, then veers through the hills of Palghar to reach Nashik city or its outskirts.Once in Nashik, the bootleggers are spoilt for choice. From the Trimbakeshwar hills to neighbouring Nandurbar district, there are several highways and local roads to enter Gujarat.
The distance from Daman to Gujarat is around 100 km, and yet, smugglers prefer detours owing to strict checks on the Gujarat border, state excise officials said. Besides, the profit is four times the cost and hence, smugglers take the risk. A bottle sold for Rs400 in Gujarat costs Rs100 in Daman and Rs 200 in Maharashtra.
Superintendent of excise department (Nashik) Shashikant Garje said bootleggers have an extensive network and they carry out their operations through careful planning.
Alcohol flows into ‘dry’ Gujarat through Maharashtra’s hilly terrain
Superintendent of excise department (Nashik) Shashikant Garje said, ,ost of the time, the vehicle carrying liquor boxes has many escort vehicles – two or three in the front and an equal number on its tail. He said, “If those in escort vehicles sense trouble, they immediately alert the main vehicle’s driver and an alternative route is taken.”
Travelling by the night seems to be convenient for smugglers when roads are comparatively empty, Garje said, adding they can speed off or disappear in the darkness if at all they are spotted.
Last year, illegal liquor worth Rs4.64 crore were seized in Nashik district, while the figures for this year – till June-end – stand at Rs60 lakh. Officials, however, believe the seizures are just the tip of the iceberg.
Investigations have revealed that vehicles used in the crime are taken on loans and passed on from person to person and finally to the driver of the day. This makes tracing the vehicle owner and establishing links difficult.
On July 7, an excise department team got a tip-off that eight vehicles laden with liquor had left from Silvassa and were headed to Gujarat via Nashik. In an high-speed chase of an SUV, an excise official was killed and two others were injured.
Inspector Raju Surve of the local crime branch of the Nashik rural police, said they recently arrested a man in this connection, who had seven cases of smuggling liquor against him in Gujarat in the last decade. “He had a network in Silvassa and he persistently acquired liquor from local stores. Once a considerable stock was amassed, the liquor would then be transported to Gujarat via Nashik.”
“The arrests (of three people) made in the July 7 case reveal a wide network of people and vehicles involved in the trade. We try our best to keep the movement of such vehicles under check,” an excise official said. In Nashik, there are six excise units and two flying squads. Each of them comprises an inspector, two sub-inspectors, two jawans and a driver. The department has one fixed point of check at Karanjali in Peth, 25km from the Gujarat border, and another at Amboli on Silvassa-Trimbakeshwar Road.
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