Rajasthan: 3 Dungarpur cops suspended after ‘destroyed’ liquor seized in Gujarat

JAIPUR: Lakhs of litres of illegal liquor, which Dungarpur police had claimed to have destroyed in last week of August, were allegedly seized in Gujarat a few days later.
Udaipur IG Prafulla Kumar said ASP Anil Kumar, Bichhiwara SHO Ranjit Singh and the malkhana (storehouse) in-charge Ratna Ram have been suspended following an initial probe.
Even as a preliminary inquiry is underway, the incident has raised suspicions of Bichhiwara police colluding with liquor smugglers, allegedly handing over the seized Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) to the accused.
Police sources said following the court’s permission, Bichhiwara police decided to destroy nearly 9,000 IMFL boxes that were seized in as many as 26 cases.
While Dungarpur police claimed to have crushed the seized liquor on August 26, their Gujarat counterparts made a seizure a week later wherein the recovered liquor was reported to be of the same stock and was valued at nearly Rs 2 lakh.
“Gujarat police in their FIR had named some Dungarpur-based smugglers,” said an official.
Kumar said police had not preserved the requisite samples which are important during court cases.
Police said investigation was underway to examine if the Gujarat police’s seized liquor was the same that was reported to have been destroyed by Bichhiwara police.
Even though police are probing the case, sources said the role of other officials was under the scanner. The probe will also check if the entire stock was indeed destroyed.
Dungarpur district remains a lucrative route for bootleggers to smuggle IMFL from Haryana to Gujarat.
Rajasthan police is now likely to speak to their counterparts in Gujarat about the incident.