By IANS,
Dahod (Gujarat) : The Gujarat police have intensified patrolling on a highway bordering Madhya Pradesh following reports of a number of make-shift country liquor vends coming up in the neighbouring state.
The police suspect that before the polls, a lot of liquor is being smuggled from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat, a state under prohibition.
“It is a usual practice among the manufacturers of country liquor on the other side of the border (Madhya Pradesh) to smuggle liquor in small containers stacked in trucks and public transport vehicles entering Gujarat during the poll season,” said a police officer in this district near the border with Jhabua of Madhya Pradesh.
“A huge quantity of liquor is seized every poll season on Gujarat’s border with Madhya Pradesh and this time it is going to be no exception,” the police officer told IANS.
The police believe that there is more demand for country liquor particularly in the tribal dominated central parts of the state where supporters of various political parties are suspected to be involved in the distribution of country liquor free of cost.
“The liquor is sometimes packed in 100 ml pouches hidden below the seats of passenger vehicles or in wooden boxes hidden below industrial goods in trucks,” the police officer added.
According to a rough estimate, almost 50,000 litres of country liquor is consumed every day in Gujarat during the poll season, he said.