Gujarat: 1,560 held under Prohibition Act in Valsad on New Year’s Eve

As many as 1,560 persons were arrested in Valsad district on New Year’s Eve under Prohibition Act. According to police, among the 1,560 men and women held on December 31 night, the majority of them were from Surat.

Valsad has proximity to union territories Daman and Silvassa where there is no prohibition on liquor. Therefore every year, a large number of people from Surat and different parts of Gujarat visit these two places around the New Year eve.

However, this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the local administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli as well as Daman had issued notifications stating hotels should not hold ”celebrations” after 10 pm on December 31.

According to officials, Valsad police had made pre arrangement to register offences of violators found drunk, found drunken driving, found in possession of liquor and for that purpose, eight private halls and four tents were arranged to keep those held under the Prohibition Act.

A total of 14 buses were hired to bring the arrested ones under Act to the police stations. The police also had taken help from 12 medical teams allotted by the district collector to carry out medical examinations of the accused at the 14 police stations in the district. The Valsad police had also made 19 checkposts on the interior roads leading to Valsad town from both the union territories.

Valsad Superintendent of police Dr Rajeepsinh Jhala said, “Last year on the eve of New Year, Valsad police had recorded around 950 cases, This year we registered 1560 cases for possession of liquor, drunk driving among other offences. All the arrested ones were bailed out from the police stations. The police team along with medical teams of Valsad had worked hard jointly for the whole night. Among those arrested, the majority of them are from Surat. A total of 397 Rapid Antigen Tests were conducted but nobody was found positive.”

Meanwhile, in Gir Somnath, which also has proximity to union territory Diu which has no prohibition on liquor, saw around 300-350 cases of prohibition registered on December 31 night, as per Rahul Tripathi, Superintendent of Police, Gir Somnath.

In Junagadh, as many as 100 cases of prohibition were registered on December 31 night which also shares proximity to Gir Somnath.

In Ahmedabad, Harshad Patel, DCP (Control room) said, “There was curfew in Ahmedabad after 9 pm on December 31 night and till 6 am on January 1, we registered 156 such cases and illicit liquor worth Rs 11 lakh was seized.”

In Vadodara city, 47 persons were arrested on New Year’s eve after they were found drunk.