Tipplers give tough time to Valsad cops

Surat: Police stations in Valsad district, which adjoins watering holes of Daman and Silvassa, were cramped for space after nearly 1,000 people were arrested in an inebriated condition at various entry points on the New Year eve.
As many as 967 persons were arrested in the district and majority of the arrests were made at check-posts to Daman and Silvassa. Lock-ups in Dungra, Pardi, Vapi town and Valsad rural police stations were overflowing with arrested tipplers and cops themselves were cramped for space.

However, managing such large number of arrests proved to be a headache for cops. Many drunkards were made to sit in the passages of the police stations and in rooms of the cops. Some of them even had to be kept in police department’s halls, which are usually reserved for meetings or social events. Police had to hire private buses to ferry the arrested persons to the hospital for medical examination till early on Tuesday morning and then to the court, where majority of them were granted bail.

The number of arrests this year is significantly high compared to 2017 when police had arrested arrested 607 people while 325 were held on December 31, 2016.

“We were expecting lesser arrests due to awareness about stricter prohibition laws in the last two years. But to our surprise the numbers increased. By arresting large number of drunk drivers, we could prevent many accidents,” said Sunil Joshi, superintendent of police, Valsad.

In Valsad town, 127 were caught for drunk driving and 35 for possessing liquor.

In Surat city, police arrested 83 people who were caught drunk. Police also raided a party in posh Parle Point area and arrested a businessman and his friends. Elsewhere in Surat district, 41 persons were arrested under prohibition law.

A group of people from Surat city including women were caught partying with liquor at two locations in Chikhli police station limits where a total of 35 were arrested in 29 cases of prohibition.