Ahmedabad, February 9: Ahmedabad police have seized a large cache of foreign liquor hidden under helmets during an operation in the Narol area. A truck driver was arrested in connection with the case, officials reported on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, the PCB team monitored the area near Sai Nath Parking, close to the SP Ring Road and Asalali Circle. Late Sunday night, they stopped a truck for inspection. During the search, authorities discovered a significant quantity of foreign liquor concealed beneath 1,053 helmets loaded in the upper section of the vehicle.
Officials indicated that this method of concealment was deliberately designed to evade detection during routine checks.
Upon investigation, police recovered 10,749 bottles of foreign liquor, valued at approximately ₹6,386,608. The helmets themselves were valued at ₹525,447. The operation also led to the seizure of the truck, a mobile phone, and cash, with the total estimated value of the confiscated items exceeding ₹8.42 million.
Preliminary investigations revealed that this shipment was loaded in Chandigarh and was being transported to Junagadh, violating Gujarat’s prohibition laws.
The arrested truck driver has been identified as 38-year-old Johnny Baldev Singh Chandel, a resident of Hawani village in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. He is being interrogated to determine the source of the shipment and its intended recipient.
A police officer noted that alcohol traffickers frequently use legitimate goods to smuggle illegal liquor across state borders. Timely intelligence and vigilant monitoring were crucial in detecting and intercepting this shipment. The Narol police station is collaborating with other agencies to uncover the larger network involved in this trafficking operation.
This seizure is part of a series of similar operations in Gujarat. In October 2025, the Sola High Court police surveillance squad intercepted a truck near Gota Bridge, which was carrying boxes labeled as hospital medicines but contained 5,520 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth approximately ₹3.09 million. Two individuals from Punjab were arrested in that case.
In another incident in September 2025, the Special Monitoring Cell seized 8,231 bottles of IMFL worth ₹4.49 million from a pickup truck near Kapurai Chowk in Vadodara. The vehicle was confiscated, and police have begun efforts to identify the suspects involved.