Ahmedabad: City Crime Branch, in coordination with Sarkhej police, arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly repackaging low-cost Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as premium brands and selling it at heavily inflated prices.The accused, identified as Samirkhan Pathan, was arrested near Fatehwadi Canal in Sarkhej on Wednesday night. Investigators said that he had been running the operation for nearly four months.Police said the counterfeit liquor was sold at rates nearly 10 times higher than the original purchase cost.During the raid, officials seized 174 sealed bottles of IMFL worth Rs 1.5 lakh, 96 beer cans valued at Rs 13,440, 29 empty branded liquor bottles, 63 bottle caps, 53 stickers, four tubes of adhesive and a mobile phone worth Rs 1 lakh. The total value of the seizure was estimated at Rs 2.5 lakh.A case has been registered at the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) police station under provisions of the Gujarat Prohibition Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating. Police said Pathan had earlier been booked in a prohibition-related offence under Vejalpur police station.Investigators are now tracing the source of the cheap liquor, suppliers of branded bottles and labels, and customers who may have purchased the counterfeit stock.
