Gujarat, a dry state under prohibition laws, has seen many creative attempts to smuggle liquor over the years from hiding bottles in water tanks to stuffing them in vegetable sacks.
According to media report, police in Gir Somnath district uncovered a new method: smuggling liquor from Diu using India’s official postal service. The racket came to light when police in Una town stopped a man on a two-wheeler near Delwada.
The man, Nayan Jethwa, was carrying a postal package. When questioned, police discovered two parcels with valid postal stamps. But inside the packages, they found 19 bottles of liquor of different brands.
Further investigation revealed that the operation involved more people including a postmaster who were helping smuggle liquor into the state.
How a man and his postmaster friend smuggled liquor into the dry state
According to police, Nayan Jethwa bought liquor in Diu and teamed up with his friend, Mayur Gohil, a postmaster in the area, to smuggle it into Gujarat. Gohil misused his position by putting official postal markings on the parcels and loading them onto India Post delivery vehicles to avoid suspicion at security checkpoints.
Inspector M.N. Rana of Una police said that the parcels, though filled with liquor, were treated as regular mail. The postal van driver, unaware of the contents, transported them as usual. Jethwa then collected the parcels from the van at Vidhyanagar on Delwada Road.
The smuggling attempt was uncovered after police received a tip-off. Acting on the information, they intercepted Jethwa while he was transporting the liquor into Gujarat, successfully busting the operation.
Gujarat, a dry state, sees frequent liquor smuggling attempts some even hiding alcohol under vegetables. This case adds to the list of increasingly inventive methods used to bypass prohibition laws.