Gujarat constable’s phone seized in ₹15 lakh bribery case linked to liquor smuggling

Gujarat Police Constable Sajan Ahir, who was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe from a bootlegger to allow a liquor-laden truck to pass, was taken into custody on July 26. The Karjan police has now seized the Jamkhambhaliya constable’s mobile phone.

The State Monitoring Cell (SMC) has also deployed a team to trace and arrest bootlegger Anil Pandit who was involved in the deal with the constable.

The case dates back to July 20, when a truck carrying liquor was seized. Following the seizure, bootlegger Anil Pandit allegedly called the Karjan police station, claiming the truck was not supposed to be intercepted and was meant to cross the Gujarat border without hindrance. Reports indicate that the bootlegger and the constable had struck a deal worth ₹15 lakh, ₹10 lakh for Ahir and ₹5 lakh to be sent to Gandhinagar.

Following revelations of police involvement in the illicit liquor trade, Karjan police recorded the call and registered a complaint against Constable Ahir. It was later found that Ahir had returned ₹10 lakh to the angadia service through which he had initially received it. He was arrested on July 26 from Rajkot by the SMC and then transferred to Karjan police station.

The seized phone’s records reportedly revealed that the constable and the bootlegger had been in communication for over eight days to plan and finalise the deal. The SMC has also recovered ₹5 lakh from the bootlegger that was sent to Gandhinagar via angadia. However, investigators are yet to determine who the intended recipient of this amount was.

The SMC is continuing its investigation to identify others potentially involved in the case and has deployed additional teams to arrest Pandit.