BHOPAL: Assembly poll-bound dry state Gujarat has asked neighbouring Madhya Pradesh to put a leash on liquor smuggling. Assembly polls are scheduled in two phases early next month in Gujarat, whose two districts — Chhota Udaipur and Dahod— are bordered by two tribal-dominated districts Jhabua and Alirajpur of MP.
According to key police sources in Indore, so far there have been three meetings of local administration and police of the four bordering districts of West MP and East Gujarat, with the latest one having happened in Indore on Saturday.
Liquor smuggling has emerged as the key area of concern for the two East Gujarat districts, after which the MP police has been asked to coordinate with their neighbouring state counterparts to control the smuggling of liquor from other states to Gujarat.
Importantly, the two MP districts, Jhabua and Alirajpur are among the gateways for liquor smuggling to Gujarat. While it’s the country-made liquor which is largely consumed in the two tribal-dominated west MP districts, the licensed Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) vends in both these districts (particularly in areas bordering Gujarat) are auctioned at abnormally high prices.
Knowing well that there might be an increase in liquor smuggling to Gujarat, as polls get closer, the two west MP districts have already been focussing on crackdown against liquor smugglers.
The Alirajpur district police alone has seized around 14,000 liters liquor (mostly IMFL) worth over 58.65 lakh in the last two months, including IMFL worth over Rs 20 lakh, being smuggled to Gujarat from Haryana by a smuggling syndicate operating from Bharatpur (Rajasthan).