Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, independent MLA Jignesh Mevani and Patidar leader Hardik Patel led a raid on illegal liquor dens in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
The raid is in the wake of four people falling ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Sola area of Ahmedabad on Wednesday. They are undergoing treatment in Ahmedabad's civil hospital. The condition of two among the four are reportedly serious.
The raid was conducted barely a few kilometres away from Gandhinagar DSP's office. The police, however, dubbed it a “political stunt”.
Thakor challenged Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja to make at least Ahmedabad liquor-free. He claimed that the Thakor Sena, which he heads, had informed the police a week ago about illegal liquor being sold in different parts of the state.
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More than an year ago, the state government had revised prohibition law and made provisions under it more stringent following an agitation by Thakor.
After Wednesday's incident, the police raided homegrown distilleries in Rajkot and Surat. On Wednesday night, about 2,000 litres of country liquor was seized from Chharanagar area of Ahmedabad.
Patel said they will raid liquor distilleries on Saturday and submit a memorandum to Governor O. P. Kohli on Sunday.
He alleged that liquor was flowing freely in the state and blamed the BJP leaders and state police for the same.
Tragedies caused by liquor aren't new in Gujarat. In 2009, 136 persons had lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor in the state.
Mevani said the motive of the raid was to bring to the fore “reality of the ruling BJP government.”