Bootlegger arrested from Vadodara jail for allegedly running liquor supply network from inside prison

A major interstate liquor smuggling racket has come to light after Gujarat Police’s  State Monitoring Cell (SMC) arrested Kutch-based bootlegger Anopsinh Rathod from Vadodara jail, where he was lodged under PASA (Prevention of Anti-Social Activities). He is accused of operating a liquor supply network from inside the prison and coordinating large-scale smuggling from Punjab to Mundra Port.

The operation was exposed when the SMC seized liquor worth ₹2.97 crore from two railway containers at Mundra Port. The consignments, sent from Punjab’s Ludhiana, were falsely declared as mustard oil. Investigators found that the containers were shipped using fake waybills allegedly arranged by Balaji Trading Company’s Sukhdev Singh.

The seizure triggered heightened activity at Mundra Port, with officials conducting detailed inspections and preparing panchnamas. The SMC is now probing how the consignments, falsely declared as mustard oil, passed through multiple layers of scrutiny without detection.

Despite being in jail, Anopsinh allegedly continued to run a multi-crore network, coordinating deliveries and movements of contraband. He has been placed under seven-day remand to uncover how the operation was managed from inside prison and who else was involved.

Officials suspect that liquor worth over ₹25 crore may have already been smuggled into Gujarat and distributed across the state before the racket was exposed. The investigation is ongoing.