Rajkot: Acting on specific intelligence, the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Morbi police dismantled a counterfeit liquor production facility at a house in Mota Dahisara village of Maliya (Miyana) taluka.Police arrested five people at the site and seized chemicals, packaging paraphernalia and a vehicle with an aggregate value of Rs 20.75 lakh.According to police, the crackdown on liquor started in the wake of the hooch tragedy in Bhavnagar which left 13 dead.Police received intelligence that Mahesh alias Munno Kanjiya and Ajaysinh Jadeja were making counterfeit Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) using chemical formulations inside a local house.A raid on the premises led to the bust of an assembly-line setup where the spurious concoction were bottled, sealed and packaged with forged brand labels, duplicate QR codes, and fake barcodes designed to mirror authentic Blenders Pride whisky bottles.Police detained five suspects on the premises including Mahesh alias Munno Kanjiya (42), Karmarajsinh Zala (26), Ramdevsinh Zala (38), Vicky alias Kano Sindhav (25) and Vikram Dhandhukiya (25).“Co-accused Ajaysinh Jadeja, escaped and has been named as wanted alongside any other conspirators who may emerge during the investigation,” said Samir Sarda, in-charge SP, Morbi.A case under the Gujarat Prohibition Act was registered at Maliya Miyana police station.The seized material included 276 sealed 750-ml glass bottles of spurious “Blenders Pride Whisky”, valued at Rs 3.05 lakh, and approximately 175 litres of loose counterfeit IMFL worth Rs 2.59 lakh. The authorities also seized 400 litres of a chemical solution stored in two 200-litre barrels, valued at Rs 2 lakh, 15 litres of malt, worth Rs 3,000, and two boxes of food colouring valued at Rs 2,000. Other items seized included an alcohol-measuring meter, an electric motor with piping, empty plastic carboys and barrels, along with 1,224 empty 750-ml glass liquor bottles, 1,224 branded bottle caps and 1,224 duplicate QR/barcode stickers.
