BHOPAL: A police inspector checking trucks following specific inputs about illicit liquor being smuggled from Madhya Pradesh to the dry state of Gujarat was allegedly crushed to death by a truck carrying the illicit liquor in Dewas district of western Madhya Pradesh.
The incident took place around 1.30 am on the Indore-Betul Highway, when one of the four teams formed by the Additional SP (ASP-Dewas) to act on specific intelligence about illicit liquor being smuggled from MP’s Harda district to Gujarat spotted the truck parked near a roadside dhaba at Sandalpur Phata.
When the police team leader, Khategaon police station in-charge Dilip Puri, asked the truck driver to step down from the vehicle for a check, the driver instead drove away and ran the heavy vehicle over Inspector Puri and constable Sohan Jat.
While Puri died at a private hospital in Khategaon (Dewas) a few hours later, the constable sustained injuries.
Condoling the inspector’s death in the line of duty, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav posted on X that instructions had been issued to provide a compassionate appointment to the martyr's widow in the sub inspector’s post, and that financial assistance of Rs 1 crore was being released to the bereaved family.
Multiple police teams investigating the killing of the inspector and the attempted murder of the constable by the truck driver led to the seizure of the truck, which had hidden chambers/compartments containing bottles of illicit liquor.
Subsequent action and investigations by the Dewas district police led to the disclosure of an alleged inter-state bootlegging racket involved in smuggling illicit liquor to Gujarat.
While the truck driver, Gajendra Singh Rawat alias Akku, remains untraceable, one Keram Singh, who had provided the truck to Gajendra, was arrested from Alirajpur district, which borders the dry state of Gujarat.
Keram Singh is already an accused in multiple criminal cases, including a liquor smuggling case in Guna district, in which he is out on bail granted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He is also accused in other cases, including one of rioting.
Keram Singh, who had provided the modified truck containing secret chambers to conceal the illicit liquor, revealed that a syndicate of men led by one Rahul Jaiswal was running the alleged inter-state racket. The syndicate was transporting liquor illegally from three licensed wine shops in Harda district to Gujarat via Alirajpur.
The illicit liquor was often concealed in the forests of Alirajpur district before being stealthily moved into Gujarat.
According to informed police sources, the alleged racket's kingpin, Rahul Jaiswal, was a Congress leader who had formerly served as the Harda district Youth Congress president. He was later appointed by state Congress chief Jitu Patwari as the in-charge of the Khategaon Assembly constituency in Dewas district.
The liquor business, which included three licensed wine shops in Harda district, was being run by Rahul Jaiswal in partnership with three others: Patendra Jaiswal, Mohit Jaiswal and Manish Jaiswal, who hailed from Barwani and Indore. While Rahul, Manish and Mohit Jaiswal each had a 30 per cent stake in the liquor business run through the three wine shops, Patendra Jaiswal, who lives in MP’s Barwani district, had a 10 per cent stake.
The ongoing probe revealed that Rahul Jaiswal was running the alleged inter-state liquor smuggling racket and transporting liquor from the three wine shops in Harda district to the dry state of Gujarat.
“We’ve subsequently taken into custody Rahul Jaiswal and are grilling him for more information about the inter-state bootlegging racket,” newly appointed Dewas district Superintendent of Police Aditya Mishra told TNIE.
Rahul has emerged as the kingpin of the alleged inter-state racket and the principal collector of money generated from smuggling illicit liquor into Gujarat, before distributing it among the other partners.
Before being taken into police custody, Rahul Jaiswal stated on social media that he had no stake in the liquor/alcohol business and operated only a petrol pump and private buses.
Further investigation led the police teams to Vijay Rao in Indore, who admitted to working for Rahul Jaiswal in running the inter-state bootlegging racket.
Based on information provided by the three men so far taken into custody — Keram Singh (Alirajpur), Rahul Jaiswal (Harda) and Vijay Rao (Indore) — details about other members of the racket have been shared with police superintendents in five districts of the state. Several police teams in those districts are conducting raids.
The Dewas district Superintendent of Police has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 each for information leading to the arrest of the other absconding accused, including the truck driver, Gajendra alias Akku Rawat.
Liquor licence and Harda district excise officer suspended
Meanwhile, acting separately in the same matter, the Harda district collector suspended the licence to operate the composite liquor vends, which was held in the name of Patendra Jaiswal, a native of Barwani district in southwestern MP.
With the ongoing investigations establishing that the liquor was being smuggled from licensed liquor shops in Harda district, the state excise commissioner suspended Harda district Assistant Excise Officer Amar Singh Baghel with immediate effect.
The busted inter-state illicit liquor racket is a large operation with links spread across multiple districts of western and southwestern MP. This is the second illicit liquor racket to have been busted by the Dewas district police in the last few days.
Just a few days ago, another illicit liquor racket, comparatively smaller than the one busted on Monday and allegedly operated by one Ajay Rathore, was busted in Dewas district. More than 10 people have been arrested in connection with that racket, which supplied illicit liquor suspected to be behind the deaths of 13 residents in two villages of Dewas district. Those arrested include Aman Kasliwal, son of Congress state spokesperson Anand Kasliwal.
Aman Kasliwal ran the chemical shop in Indore from which Ajay Rathore sourced chemicals to make the illicit liquor. According to the latest unconfirmed reports, Anand Kasliwal has also been arrested and admitted to the Dewas district hospital after complaining of health problems at the court in Dewas.
