A distillery unit in Goa that was allegedly manufacturing liquor in an illegal manner was sealed on Wednesday, after the arrest of five people, including one found with IMFL bottles worth over Rs 43 lakh in Gujarat’s Navsari, led police to the premises.
“This is for the first time that a distillery in Goa had been sealed in a joint operation between Navsari and Goa excise department,” said Navsari district Superintendent of Police Sushil Agarwal.
On April 3, acting on a tip-off, a team of Navsari police stopped a truck on NH-48. On checking inside, they found 7,200 IMFL bottles worth Rs 43.20 lakh and caught the driver Dinesh Vyas who was booked under the Prohibition Act and remanded to seven days in police custody.
Police sources said that on the basis of information collected by Vyas, a team went to Goa on April 9 and arrested four others who were allegedly involved in the illegal liquor business. The arrested persons were identified as Vikas alias Vicky Bishnoi, Sunil Bishnoi, and Rakesh Jagdish Shiol, all residents of Rajasthan, and Rajkumar Jaat, a resident of Haryana. All four accused are under Navsari police’s remand.
During interrogation, the accused told police that they had obtained the bottles of IMFL (Indian-made foreign liquor) from Galestorm Distillery at Pissurlem Industrial Estate in Satari, Goa.
Acting on the information given by the four accused, Navsari police team contacted Goa excise department officials and carried out raids at the distillery in Goa. The factory was sealed and 1,990 boxes of different illegal brands of IMFL liquor worth Rs 1.43 crore were sealed. The officials also sealed empty bottles and stickers of different brands of IMFL.
“Illegal liquor bottles of different brands were manufactured in the distillery. We have come across the name of one Ashok Bishnoi, who is the kingpin behind the entire illegal liquor racket. All the five arrested by Navsari Police in the Prohibition case were working under Ashok Bishnoi and his aides Manhoharlal Bishnoi, and one Satish. Once we catch Ashok Bishnoi, we will get more information. Ashok was responsible for supplying the liquor to Gujarat from Goa. He has 23 offences registered against him with different police stations in Gujarat,” said SP Agarwal.
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