Ahmedabad: In the dry state’s commercial capital, where bootleggers often outrun the law, Sarkhej police managed to ensure at least one ‘accused’ stayed back at the crime scene — a motorcycle.Sarkhej police registered a prohibition offence on Sunday after an alleged bootlegger escaped from a liquor distillation unit operating in the Sabarmati riverbed near old Vanzar village. The accused reportedly vanished into thick bushes moments before cops could catch him, leaving behind his black-and-red motorcycle.According to the FIR filed by assistant constable Kanaksinh Lakhdhirsinh, the police team was patrolling the area around noon when they received a tip-off that liquor was being brewed in the riverbed. Accompanied by panch witnesses and police staff, the officers made their way through narrow roads, and shrubbery before spotting smoke rising from the bushes.At the site, police allegedly saw a man sitting on the motorcycle near an operational liquor furnace. But before the officers could move in, the suspect noticed them from afar and sprinted away, leaving the motorcycle to face the consequences alone.The FIR ensures the motorcycle does not escape legal scrutiny and names the `Black Hero Splendor motorcycle with red stripes’ the ‘accused’.“It has been observed that when an accused person is absconding, some police stations just list whatever they can find as the accused. It just shows their laziness and lackadaisical attitude,” a police source said.Its registration details, engine number and chassis number have all been carefully recorded, while the bootlegger remains officially “unknown”.Police claimed to have seized 240 litres of country liquor and nearly 1,100 litres of wash used for brewing liquor. Officers found the wash stored in iron drums and plastic-lined pits. The raid also yielded aluminium containers, measuring equipment and a locked mobile phone.Every seized item was assigned a market value, bringing the total worth of the muddamal to Rs 1.12 lakh. The motorcycle itself was valued at Rs 30,000 — enough to become one of the star witnesses in the prohibition case.The FIR also mentions that due to a “technical glitch”, the e-panchnama under police’s e-Sakshya platform could not be completed at the spot and was later conducted at the police station.
